Clarksville, Ark.-Habeeb Kareem's jumper in the paint with 49 seconds remaining broke a 73-73 tie and lifted Ozarks to a narrow 76-74 win over UT-Dallas in American Southwest Conference play on Saturday.
One more win would guarantee the Eagles (14-9, 14-6) the number two seed out of the ASC East division. Ozarks has already clinched a spot in the ASC post-season tournament held February 24-26. UT-Dallas (10-13, 10-10) had two shots in the final three seconds, but neither fell for the Comets. A desperation three-pointer was followed by a rebound and a miss under the basket. The Comets had a chance to tie the contest for the seventeenth time with 34 seconds left, but only managed 1-of-2 from the free throw line. Ozarks’ David Hamilton then went to the line with 22 seconds and hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to give the Comets the final possession of the game with the Eagles leading 76-74. Ozarks held a 39-37 halftime lead, but couldn’t shake off the Comets. The biggest lead of the second half came when the Comets hit a three-pointer at the 14:31 mark to make the score 53-46. Ozarks, however, went on a 9-2 run to tie the contest following that three-pointer. Kareem finished with 17 points and 5 rebounds. Hamilton contributed 12 points and Jacob Sibley and Scott McCall each had 11 points. Josh Joyner had 8 assists. The Eagles will travel to Marshall, Texas, to face East Texas Baptist University on February 16. Ozarks then closes out the regular season with a road game against LeTourneau University on February 18.
Topics: Athletics