Dec. 16, 2004
Box Score
They say that there are two sides to every story.
For the UT - Pan American men's basketball team, the statement that would suit them best would be two halves to every game - a slow first half and a dominating second half.
The Broncs (4-3) outscored Texas - Permian Basin (0-10), 45-16, in the second half en route to an 82-45 victory at the UTPA Fieldhouse on Thursday (Dec. 16).
"It seems to be the same every game," said head coach Robert Davenport. "We come out slow in the first half then completely steamroll them during the second half. I think that the biggest difference between the two halves tonight is that we were patient in our shot selection. Guys weren't just throwing up shots, but were looking for the best possible one and taking those. That was really key for us."
The Broncs had two players record double-doubles (points-rebounds) against the Falcons with senior Alvaidas Gedminas (Plunge, Lithuania/Kirtland Community College) leading the way with a career-high 22 points along with 10 rebounds. The UTPA center finished 7-10 from the field and 8-9 from the free throw line, which were all career-highs, in 26 minutes of action.
"Alvaidas had a good offensive performance tonight. He could easily average a double-double every night if he could make his free throws. I think that he let some of those misses get into his head early on, but he's worked really hard on his free throws, and it's paying off for him," added Davenport.
Senior Chris Fagan (Bronx, NY/Trinidad State College) notched his first double-double of the season with a 17-point, 11-rebound performance at the power forward position. He also added five assists, three steals and a single block against the Falcons.
"Chris did exactly what we wanted him to do. He filled in nicely at the power forward position for us and was able to create mismatches down low, which is what we wanted," Davenport stated.
For the seventh consecutive game, the Broncs held the advantage on the boards, out-rebounding their opponents by a 62-25 margin. UTPA collected 26 offensive boards, resulting in 12 second chance points, compared to five rebounds for UTPB. The Broncs came into the game ranked 27th in the country in rebounding margin (+8.3 boards per game) and saw that number increase (+12.7 boards per game) as they recorded 37 more rebounds than their opponents.
Senior Sergio Sanchez (San Antonio, TX/Temple College), who came into the game ranked sixth in the nation in scoring (23.3 points per game), finished with 11 points along with a game-high six assists and two rebounds in 31 minutes. Eric Montalvo (La Joya, TX/La Joya H.S.) added eight points and 10 rebounds while Zach Trader (LaPorte, TX/LaPorte H.S.) notched eight points and seven rebounds.
"Sergio had a good game tonight. He didn't let the fact that they were keying on him early take him out of his game. He took what they gave him and got everyone involved. We had three guys in double-digits in points and rebounds so our guys really got after it tonight, especially in the second half," said Davenport.
The Broncs' bench played an important role against UTPB, finishing with 37 points compared to five for the Falcons. UTPA came into the game listed 13th in the nation in three-point field goals made per game with 9.7 and finished with eight treys on the evening with Sanchez draining three of his own. UTPA also dished out 23 assists compared to 10 for the Falcons.
UTPA will be back in action on Monday (Dec. 20) against Birmingham - Southern, who won the Big South Conference regular season championship a year ago. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
UTPA Sports Information
