MARSHALL, TX (02.05.11) - Junior Chris Barnes drained a three-pointer with 26 seconds left Saturday afternoon to lift the UT Dallas men's basketball team to a 73-70 road win over East Texas Baptist as the Comets moved into the driver's seat to host the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament later this month.

The Comets (now 16-5, 12-4 ASC) grabbed a one-game lead and the tie-breaker over the second-place Tigers as UTD completed the season sweep of second-place ETBU. The Tigers dropped to 14-6 overall and 11-5 in ASC play.

Both teams have four regular season games remaining. UTD would need to win at least one more game (or have fourth-place UT-Tyler or Mississippi College lose another game) to clinch its eighth straight post-season berth. To win the division and host the tournament, UTD would need to finish ahead of or in a tie with ETBU in the standings. Third-place Louisiana College (9-6 in conference with five games left) may also be a factor.

Trailing 70-68 after a jumper by ETBU's Jeremy LaGarde, Barnes nailed his third trey of the game to boost the Comets to a slim one-point advantage. Senior Curtis Davis would later get fouled and add a pair of free throws to ice the three-point victory. The host Tigers had a late chance to force overtime, but a three-pointer by Jaron Joseph clanged off the iron and into the hands of UTD freshman Kyle Schleigh.

UTD trailed the Tigers, 36-32, at the break after shooting just 37.9 percent (11-of-29) from the field as a team over the opening 20 minutes. In comparison, ETBU shot 52 percent (13-of-25) in the half and out-rebounded the Comets, 17-12, over the half.

The Tigers opened the second half with a three-pointer by LaGarde and eventually opened their lead to as many as nine points, 43-34, not two minutes into the final period. The Comets clawed back but would not take the lead until the 6:04 mark of the half when a Davis jumper gave UTD a slim, 60-59, advantage.
The lead did not last long as the Tigers responded on their next possession setting up seven quick lead changes before LaGarde would knot the game, 68-68, with a three-pointer with 1:35 remaining. LaGarde added a jumper less than a minute later to give ETBU a two-point lead, setting up Barnes' game-changing three-pointer.

Junior point guard Greg Chiasson led the Comets with 22 points while Barnes added 17 points along with a game-high six rebounds. Freshman Carter Nash came off the bench to add 13 points as the only other Comet in double figures.

UTD shot better than 55 percent in the second half to erase the deficit, finishing the game 26-of-56 (46.4%) from the field for the game. The Comets went 8-of-26 (30.8%) from three-point range and were near perfect at the free-throw line, connecting on 13-of-14 (92.9%) attempts for the charity stripe.

LaGarde scored a game-high 24 points for the Tigers leading three ETBU players in double digits. ETBU ended the afternoon 27-of-51 (52.9%) from the floor as a team, hitting 50 percent (11-of-22) from three-point range and hit 5-of-8 (62.5%) from the free-throw line. The Tigers ended the game with a 30-26 advantage in rebounding.

The Comets return to action Thursday night when they host Mississippi College to open a stretch of four consecutive home games to wrap up the regular season. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. at the UTD Activity Center.

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