A short-range jumper from Donovan Souter as time ran out propelled The University of Texas at Dallas men’s basketball team to a 78-77 victory over the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in the American Southwest Conference (ASC) Championship Tournament Finals on Feb. 24 at the Mabee Athletic Complex in Abilene.
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The Comets (18-9), who also won the ASC title in 2005, 2009, 2014 and 2019, earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament. They will play Trinity University (23-3) in the first round at 7:35 p.m. Friday, March 1, at the William H. Bell Athletic Center in San Antonio. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $10 for students, seniors and children. The game also will be broadcast online.
In the ASC title game, UTD built an 11-point lead late in the first half and held an eight-point advantage early in the second half. But with 17 seconds left in the game, the Comets trailed 77-71.
UT Dallas guard Nick Donnelly hit a 3-pointer, and then, after a Mary Hardin-Baylor turnover, Luke Kiser made a wide-open layup with nine seconds remaining to cut it to 77-76. UT Dallas got the ball back after a missed free throw, and Kiser drove down the length of the floor and dished off to Souter, who sank a 5-foot jumper right before the final buzzer sounded.
Souter, who finished with a game-high 25 points and broke the school record for most 3-pointers made in a season during the finals, was named the tournament’s MVP. Kiser and Austin Page, who grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in the title game, also were selected to the all-tournament team.
UT Dallas, led by first-year head coach Jared Fleming BS’09, MS’10, has won 12 of its last 15 games and will be making its eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Fleming has now won an ASC title at UTD as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
Other members of the team are Thibaut Tagnon, Ryan Nurenberg, Rob Wade, Cody Opoku-Darko, Ben Markovic, Elijah Portalis, Matthew Soto, Everett Bates, Nnamdi Edeoga, Jaelyn Rivera, Clayton Shaw, Ethan Van Horn, Franklin Onyeme, Jordan Balderaz, AJ Carter, Brock Davis and Tyler Stephenson.