A hard fought first half produced few points for either team. Both the YellowJackets (7-12, 6-11) and the Comets (7-12, 7-9) played possession basketball and did not allow the other many extra opportunities. The Comets took a 25-24 lead into halftime in a game that had playoff implications on the line for both squads.
The second half was a completely different story for the Comets as Swafford came out of the gates on fire. He hit four three-pointers in the second half alone and teammate Martin Salinas helped out with four treys in the game. Every time the Jackets would pull the game close, Swafford and Salinas were there with their great outside shooting.
The game deciding minute came when the Jackets cut the lead to eight points after a nice little 5-0 run. UTD took a time out and Swafford and Salinas would combine to hit three trifectas in the next minute to give the Comets an insurmountable 17-point lead with four minutes remaining.
LETU freshman guard Dewones Smith had another strong outing with a game high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor. Senior forward Travis Bankettadded 16 points and a team best six rebounds while fellow senior Reese Lantrip added 11 points off the bench. LeTourneau shot 48 percent from the floor, but managed just 7 of 15 from the foul line.
In addition to Swafford and Salinas, who had 16 points, Adam Bush had 12 points and six rebounds in the post for UTD. Point guard Travis Carruthers added 11 points by making 8-of-8 free throws in the final moments of the ball game.
The Jackets travel to UT-Tyler on Saturday for an ASC East Division game beginning at 3 o’clock. The game can be heard online at www.tsrnsports.com.
LeTourneau University vs University of Texas at Dallas 02/02/06 7:30 pm at UTD Activity Center; Richardson, TX At UTD Activity Center; Richardson, TX UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS 73, LETOURNEAU UNIVERSITY 60 LETOURNEAU UNIVERSITY (7-12, 6-11) Dewones Smith 8-11 2-4 20; Travis Bankett 6-10 2-5 16; Reese Lantrip 4-7 2-2 11; Jay Burnett 2-4 0-0 4; Dusty Evers 2-5 0-0 4; Marcus Coleman 1-5 1-3 3; Cal Balmos 1-2 0-0 2; James Williams 0-1 0-0 0; Casey Sitton 0-3 0-0 0; Jacob Butler 0-2 0-1 0; Joe Packard 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-50 7-15 60. UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS (7-12, 7-9) Jay Swafford 5-13 4-4 18; Martin Salinas 5-12 2-2 16; Adam Bush 5-8 2-3 12; Travis Carruthers 1-3 8-8 11; Kersh Milson 3-6 1-1 7; Mike McKee 1-4 2-2 5; Jeremy Lewis 1-1 0-0 2; Tyrone Hurt 1-2 0-0 2; Richard Gravenstein 0-1 0-0 0; Ernest Lowery 0-0 0-0 0; Kenneth Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-50 19-20 73. LeTourneau University......... 24 36 - 60 University of Texas at Dallas. 25 48 - 73 3-point goals-LeTourneau University 5-19 (Travis Bankett 2-5; Dewones Smith 2-3; Reese Lantrip 1-3; Marcus Coleman 0-2; Cal Balmos 0-1; Casey Sitton 0-1; Jacob Butler 0-1; Dusty Evers 0-1; Jay Burnett 0-2), University of Texas at Dallas 10-23 (Martin Salinas 4-10; Jay Swafford 4-9; Travis Carruthers 1-3; Mike McKee 1-1). Fouled out--LeTourneau University-None, University of Texas at Dallas-None. Rebounds-LeTourneau University 31 (Travis Bankett 6), University of Texas at Dallas 30 (Kersh Milson 6; Adam Bush 6). Assists-LeTourneau University 10 (Travis Bankett 2; Dusty Evers 2; Jay Burnett 2), University of Texas at Dallas 16 (Travis Carruthers 5). Total fouls-LeTourneau University 19, University of Texas at Dallas 18. A-249