RICHARDSON, Texas – The Concordia Texas men's basketball team erased a 16 point second half deficit, but was unable to complete the comeback as they fell 77-74 Thursday night at UTD Activity Center.
 
The Tornados got 19 points from Philip Meikle and a phenomenal 15-point, eight-rebound effort from Joe Neal as they dropped to 2-7, 1-2 ASC on the year.
 
UT Dallas started the game on fire, going on a 16-3 run to take an early 22-10 lead. The Comets were able to keep CTX at arms-length the rest of the half, ending the first stanza with a 39-27 lead.
 
Trailing 55-39 in the second half, the Tornados began mounting their comeback, outscoring UTD 25-7 over the next six minutes of play to take a 64-62 lead.
 
The two teams traded buckets down the stretch, but the Comets were able to pull away late by closing the game on a 7-2 run to take home the victory.
 
DeTarrius Kirk joined Meikle and Neal in double figures with 10 points to go along with six boards. Neal, a senior from Houston, also added six assists and four steals as the Tornados have now dropped their last three games by a combined total of just seven points.
 
Next up, CTX will travel to Houston for an exhibition matchup against Texas Southern Saturday at 7:30 p.m. After that, the Tornados will return to NCAA DIII play with a game against UT Tyler on Dec. 15 at 3 p.m. inside Concordia Fieldhouse.