Clarksville, Ark.-The Eagles came up short in their quest to earn a spot in the playoffs as the UT-Dallas Comets claimed a 70-67 victory in the final game of the regular season of American Southwest Conference play and advance to the four-team conference postseason tournament held next weekend.
The game proved to go down to the wanning moments with the Comets (15-10, 10-4) breaking the fourteenth tie of the contest when James Venters hit 1-of-2 free throws with 2:04 remaining to give UT-Dallas a 68-67 lead. The Eagles (11-14, 8-6) final points of the game came at the 2:32 mark when Josh Joyner converted a lay-up after stripping the ball from Jeff Garrett making the score 67-67. Down 70-67 with 2 seconds remaining, Ozarks did have the last possession of the contest, but a Tyler Field three-pointer rimmed out at the buzzer. The Eagles held a 40-39 lead at intermission after connecting on 14-of-33 (42%) of their shots from the floor and 9-of-11 (81%) from the free throw line. The two squads would battle back and forth in the final twenty minutes of play, exchanging leads seven different times. The Comets gained momentum at the midway point of the second half when they went on a 9-0 spurt highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers. Adam Bush’s two free throws put the Comets up 62-57 with 8:34 remaining in the game. The Eagles would hold just one lead following Bush’s score on a Brent Johnson three-pointer at the 5:07 mark. Ozarks suffered from a poor shooting afternoon in the second half hitting only 33 percent from the field while the Comets hit a solid 50 percent. Joyner led the team with 18 points. Johnson added 15 points and had a team-best 6 rebounds. Seniors Reggie Brasfield and Geoff Owens scored 8 points and 4 points in their final games at Ozarks.
Topics: Athletics