Nov. 27, 2004
Box Score
The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team was unable to overcome a strong shooting performance behind the arc on behalf of the Southwest Missouri State Bears en route to its first loss of the season, 88-63, at the Hammons Student Center in Springfield, MO, on Saturday (Nov. 27).
The Bears, who shot 60 percent from three-point land, took the early advantage on the Broncs by draining a trio of three-pointers in the first three minutes of the contest and jumped out to a 10-4 lead. Following a Chris Fagan (Bronx, NY/Trinidad State College) jump shot in the paint at the 16:52 mark, the Broncs were able to cut the lead to four points at 10-6, but SMSU proceeded to go on a 13-3 lead highlighted by six points from Devin Mitchell. Mitchell finished the game with eight points, six rebounds and four assists.
Southwest Missouri State upped their lead to 21 points at 40-19 with 5:38 remaining in the contest when Anthony Shavies connected on his first of two three-pointers in the contest. The Broncs responded by pulling the deficit to 17 points at 50-33 by intermission following a pair of free throws by senior Eric Montalvo (La Joya, TX/La Joya H.S.) with 32 seconds remaining. Montalvo finished the game with 11 points, including 4-4 from the charity stripe.
The Broncs battled their way back in the first few minutes of the second half and got within 10 points at 51-41 after Fagan, who collected nine points in the contest, connected on a jump shot at the 18:13 mark. Before the first media timeout of the season took place, SMSU center Tamarr Maclin notched two lay-ins and a pair of free throws to bump the Bears' lead back to 19 points at 62-43. Maclin finished with 17 points along with seven rebounds and two blocked shots for the Bears.
During the remainder of the half, the Broncs were only able to cut the lead to less than 20 points at 78-59 after junior forward Derrick East (Binger, OK/Lookeba-Sickles H.S.) notched a jump shot in the paint with 3:44 remaining in the game. Following East's jumper, the Bears went on a 10-4 run during the final minutes of the game and cruised to the 88-63 victory.
The Broncs were led by senior Sergio Sanchez (San Antonio, TX/Temple College), who finished the game with a team-high 13 points on 5-17 shooting, while East added nine points and six rebounds. UTPA, who finds strength in the three-pointer, only connected on eight of 27 attempts (29.6 percent) while shooting 37 percent from the floor during the contest.
An Achilles' heel for the Broncs came in way of turnovers as Southwest Missouri State was able to capitalize on 22 UTPA giveaways, turning it into 28 points. The lone bright spot for the Broncs was their ability to win the battle on the boards, finishing with 42 rebounds compared to the Bears' 36. Senior Ray Castillo (San Antonio, TX/Temple College) led UTPA with eight rebounds.
The Broncs will be back in action on Wednesday (Dec. 1) at the UTPA Fieldhouse against Southwestern Assemblies of God with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information
