Championship Central |
Box Score
ABILENE, Texas – No. 2 seed
UT Dallas won the 2024 American Southwest Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, edging No. 4 seed Mary Hardin-Baylor, 78-77, on a buzzer beater on Saturday night at the Mabee Complex. The title is the fifth for the Comets (18-9), who clinched an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament. Selections will be announced on Monday, February 26 at 12:00 p.m. (CST).
(Game Highlights)
UT Dallas senior guard
Donovan Souter was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player after hitting the jump shot of his life with time expiring to propel the Comets to a one-point victory and complete a 7-0 run in the final 11 seconds to win the championship. Souter's shot was the first buzzer beater in an ASC Men's Basketball Championship game in 26 tournaments.
All-Tournament Team
Donovan Souter, UT Dallas (MVP)
Luke Kiser, UT Dallas
Austin Page, UT Dallas
Eli Beard, Mary Hardin-Baylor
Josiah Johnson, Mary Hardin-Baylor
Will Bartoszek, Hardin-Simmons
Caedmon Liebengood, LeTourneau
Souter matched a game-high 25 points with 10 made field goals and five three-pointers to lead the Comets through 37 minutes. Austin Page contributed a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go with four assists and three blocks. Thibaut Tagnon scored 13 points from the bench, and Nick Donnelly completed a quartet of UTD players in double-digits with 11 points. Luke Kiser dished 10 assists, while the Comets had 19 as a team. As a team, the Comets shot 45.6 percent from the floor and made 11 three-pointers. UTD held a 16-11 edge on second chance points and a slight 19-18 edge on points off turnovers.
UMHB (17-10) was led by Josiah Johnson with 25 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and two blocks in 39 minutes. Johnson and Eli Beard combined to shoot 8-of-14 from downtown and Beard also eclipsed 20 points with 24. He shot 50 percent from (10-20) from the floor and grabbed six rebounds and tied Josh Goings with three steals for the team-lead. Goings posted 10 points to complete the trio of top scorers. The Cru held a 34-28 advantage on points in the paint and 11-9 edge on fast break points.
Both teams committed 14 turnovers and swiped eight steals.
This was a contest that came down to the wire from the opening tip, as there were eight lead changes and nine times tied. Both sides tied the game six times in the opening stanza, as UT Dallas headed into the break with a 37-33 lead. A three-pointer by Souter opened the largest lead of the night for either side at 11 (37-26) with just under three minutes to go. Johnson scored the final five points of the half with a pair of free throws and drilled a trey with 15 seconds left to close the gap.
UTD pushed its advantage to as many as eight in the early part of the second half. The Cru responded with a 10-2 run to knot the game at 51-all with 14 minutes left. Leads were traded a few occasions, but Beard had a couple of trifectas that put UMHB up each time, including a second time with nine minutes left to make it 60-56. Zachary Engels also had a trey sandwiched between that also broke a tie giving the Cru a lead. The Comets came back to take the lead on a three by Nick Donnelly, making the score 63-60. Both teams had gained the lead four times in the half.
The Cru raced ahead with around five and a half minutes left in regulation starting with a go-ahead three by Johnson to make it 67-65. Goings had a steal that led to Beard scoring on the fastbreak and a layup by Goings made it a 71-65 lead. UTD countered with the next five points capped by a Tagnon layup. The Cru went up 77-71 with 17 seconds left and Goings having six straight points including four in that span. Johnson made both free throws. The Comets answered with a trey by Donnelly. A jump ball gave the Comets the ball back with a second off the clock. Kiser scored under the basket on an inbounds pass from Tagnon. UMHB was fouled and in the bonus. After missing the first free throw on a one-and-one, the Comets hustled down the court in the last six seconds and Souter was able to get a jumper in the paint to tickle the twine as time expired.
UT Dallas won its fifth ASC Championship title, picking up its first one since 2019 when it made its last appearance. The Comets have titles in 2005, 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024. UT Dallas is 5-1 in championship games and 23-16 overall, which ties the all-time lead for conference tournament wins with Hardin-Simmons. This is the second time UT Dallas and Mary Hardin-Baylor met in the ASC Championship round, with UMHB winning the 2010, 80-70. UMHB does hold the all-time series in conference tournament contests, 5-2.
(Postgame Interview)