Box Score
The University of Texas at Dallas used a closing burst over the final 5:55 to vault past the Capital University Crusaders and into the national quarterfinals with a 71-63 victory Friday evening at the DeCarlo Varsity Center in University Heights.
Trailing 59-57 entering the final six minutes of the contest, the Comets would outscore the Crusaders down the stretch by a 14-4 margin to advance to the round of eight for the first time in school history.
Neither team enjoyed a lead of more than five minutes over the first 20 minutes of play, as the game featured five ties and six lead changes.
In the second half, however, UT-Dallas would be the first to break away. Trailing early on by a 35-30 score, the Comets reeled off a 23-9 run over an eight-minute stretch of the second half. When Chris Barnes dropped in a three-pointer with 10:53 on the clock, he put UT-Dallas on top, 53-44.
Capital would rally with a 13-0 run, taking a 56-53 lead on a Ryan Wood three-pointer with 7:24 left in the contest, but Scott Rodgers scored four straight points to put the Comets back in front, 57-56.
Nate Stahl would give the Crusaders their final lead at 59-57 on a three-point field goal with 6:05 showing on the clock, but the Comets would close out the game by scoring 14 of the final 18 points.
Jordan Eppink started the run with a lay-up to tie the score at 59-59, then Rodgers followed with a three-pointer that put UT-Dallas ahead for good with 5:33 remaining on the clock. The Comets’ vaunted defense, ranked eighth in Division III by allowing just 59.6 points per game, forced Capital to miss its final ten shots from the field.
UT-Dallas (26-4) had four players score in double figures, led by Brandon Greene and Jimmy Witten with 15 and Temaine Wright with 12. Rodgers had ten points, all in the second half. The Comets forced Capital into 22 turnovers.
Capital (26-5) was led by a game-high 27 points from Stahl, who was 10-15 from the field and 7-10 from three-point range in his final collegiate game. Wood was the only other Crusader in double figures with 12 points.