Dec. 11, 2004
Box Score
A faulty starter can cause trouble for any car.
That's why The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team might have to make a quick trip to Pep Boys or AutoZone to get its starter changed.
For the second consecutive game, the Broncs fell behind early in the contest before rallying back with a vengeance during the second 20 minutes only to have the conclusion prove to be the same. This time, the Broncs suffered a heart-breaking 92-85 loss to North Texas at the UTPA Fieldhouse on Saturday (Dec. 11), snapping a 12-game home winning streak.
Led by Calvin Watson, North Texas jumped out to a quick 13-3 lead before the first media timeout occurred with 15:46 remaining in the half. During the string of four minutes, the UNT guard drained both a pair of three-pointers and lay-ins to score 10 of the team's first 15 points. Watson finished with a team-high 28 points, shooting 9-12 from the floor and 6-7 beyond three-point land.
"You have to put two halves together," said head coach Robert Davenport. "I've been around the game a long time, and I have never seen anything like this before. We waited for somebody to get after it, and when nobody did then we dug ourselves a big hole. I told the guys at halftime that they have worked too hard in practice and in the second half of games to play like they did early in the game."
The Broncs' saving grace once again in the first half was the play of point guard Sergio Sanchez (San Antonio, TX/Temple College), who scored 15 points in the opening frame. He finished with a career-high 33 points, including 7-10 from behind the arc as well as 10-11 at the charity stripe. The UTPA senior came into the contest ranked 12th in the nation in scoring, averaging 21.2 points per game.
"Sergio carried us in the first half. You could tell in his eyes that he knew that he was going to have to carry us until we stepped up as a team," added Davenport.
Despite Sanchez's heroics in the half, the Mean Green had the Broncs safely in their rearview mirror in large part to converting 12 UTPA turnovers into 23 points. At the intermission, North Texas held a "safe" 15-point advantage at 50-35.
Similar to the previous game at Lamar, the Broncs slowly chipped away at the lead. After a Leonard Hopkins' trey 17 seconds into the half, UTPA was able to cut the deficit with every shot and had the lead down to 12 points when Matt Berry (Tulsa, OK/Indiana State University) connected on one of his two threes at the 16:11 mark.
Following a pair of free throws from senior Alvaidas Gedminas (Plunge, Lithuania/Kirtland Community College), the Broncs proceeded to jump on an 11-2 run over the course of four minutes with Chris Fagan (Bronx, NY/Trinidad State College) heading the charge. During the span, Fagan accumulated six of his 14 points which allowed the Broncs to cut the lead to less than 10 points for the first time since the 14-minute mark in the first half.
Continuing to chip away at the deficit, the Broncs had the Mean Green's lead down to four points following a free throw from freshman Dexter Shankle (Katy, TX/James E. Taylor High School) at the 7:44 mark to make the score 68-64. While UNT would up its advantage to eight points, the Broncs would step up to answer the challenge with Sanchez in control.
Sanchez connected on his seventh three-pointer of the game with 3:17 remaining in the contest to cut the lead down to two points at 80-78. Following a lay-in from Justin Barnett, Fagan would connect on his lone three-pointer with 1:41 remaining to give UNT a single-point advantage.
Then with everything heading in the Broncs' direction, one of the most unusual plays of the season occurred when a Michael Jones attempted pass deflected off the hands of junior Derrick East. As the ball sailed from the paint to behind the arc, Watson caught the ball and in one motion smoothly hammered a trey, which proved to be the nail in the coffin for the Broncs.
The Mean Green was able to run out the clock and escape with a 92-85 victory on the Broncs' home court.
In the second half, UTPA a solid performance from Gedminas, who finished with 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds. For the sixth game this season, the Broncs won the battle of the boards by a 39-24 margin. They also made 15 more free throws than their opponents, notching 25 for the game compared to UNT's 10 charity shots.
"The second half was a total team effort. We got back into the game as a team, but it's hard to win games when you dig yourself a big hole in the first half. I think that sometimes this team is waiting for Sergio to step up, but they can't wait. They know they can play, and now we need to find a spark right from the beginning," Davenport said.
With the loss, the Broncs suffered their second consecutive loss and fall to 3-3 on the season while North Texas improved its record to 4-3.
UTPA will be back in action on Thursday (Dec. 16) against Texas - Permian Basin with game times slated for 7:30 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information
