University men’s basketball team kept themselves in the hunt for a playoff berth after splitting road games last week against The University of Texas at Dallas and The University of the Ozarks.
Patriots’ Anthony Reese (left) and Michael Johnson (right) fight for a steal from a University of Texas at Dallas defender during the men’s 55-48 loss Thursday in Richardson. By Mikosha Phoenix.
The Patriots took a loss against UT Dallas (48-55) on Thursday night, but recovered with a win on Saturday versus the Eagles (71-55). Thursday’s game in Richardson started out very sloppy.
Both teams played defense to a certain extent, but shot very poorly with the lead staying very close for the whole half.
The largest difference was five, which belonged to the Patriots after Michael Johnson made a three-pointer from the right wing. However, the Comets charged back by scoring three unanswered baskets in the lane to take the lead back with 9:43 left in the half.
Shortly after, both team’s games went from bad to worse.
Patriots’ Anthony Reese made a short bank shot with seven and-a-half minutes until halftime.
After that, neither team scored for the next six minutes.
Comets’ Temaine Wright scored three points the old fashion way with 1:44 left on the clock to tie the game at 17, breaking the scoring drought.
Patriots’ Hakeem Kareem scored on the next possession and the first half ended with a dismal 19-17 lead in favor of the Patriots.
The Patriots shot 30 percent during the half, 1-of-8 from the three-point line. The Comets’ stats were even worse, shooting 28.6 percent from the floor, 0-of-9 from beyond the arc. Wright led all scorers at the half with nine points.
The second half would be much better for both teams, especially for the Comets.
They took the lead several minutes into the half and after a 10-1 run and the Comets were up 39-28 with 10 minutes remaining. The Patriots would get to within one point (41-40) after a 12-2 run of their own, but never could get the lead back.
The Comets increased their lead on jump shots and forced to the Patriots to foul to keep the game close. UT Dallas made seven free throws in a row down the stretch and capped off a 55-48 win.
Wright led all scorers with 15 points while the Comets had 22 points off turnovers and 18 second-chance points.
On Saturday, the Patriots traveled to Clarksville, Ark. to face the Ozarks, desperately needing a win to remain in the playoff hunt.
The Eagles gained the lead less than four minutes into the game and would keep it the rest of the half. In the fist half, the Eagles were up as much as 15 and took a 13-point lead into the locker room. The Patriots did not help themselves either, shooting 25.8 percent in the first half.
In the second half, the Patriots played better than what arguably might be their best half all season.
The Patriots steadily chipped away at the Ozarks lead and eventually tied the game at 46-46 with just over 10 minutes left. From there on in, Kareem stole the show and the game for the Patriots.
Kareem scored 10 points in the last six minutes of the game, and finished with 29 points in the second half alone. Kareem ended the day with a career-high 35 points, shooting an astounding 15-of-20 from the field.
Patriots shot an astonishing 61.3 percent in the second half and were 9-11 from the free throw line.
“We shot the ball awful in the first half…[but] got some good looks in the second half and we managed to knock down shots,” coach Kenny Bizot said. “Hakeem took over in the second half and he made some big threes as well.”
Bizot also said the team’s second half performance was something he had been expecting for a while.
With the win, the Patriots retained sole possession of the fourth and final playoff spot in the American Southwest Conference East Division after Mississippi College defeated East Texas Baptist on Saturday. The Patriots sit in fourth place with a 10-8 conference record while ETBU is 9-9 and in fifth place.
The Patriots can clinch its second consecutive playoff berth with one win and one ETBU loss or by just winning out the remaining two games on the season.
On Thursday, the Patriots travel to Louisiana College, who is in last place in the division.
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