Dec. 22, 2004
Box Score
UT - Pan American senior Ray Castillo (San Antonio, TX/Temple College) scored a career-high 30 points, including tying a program single-game record with eight three-pointers, en route to leading the Broncs to a 77-59 victory over Wright State University on Wednesday (Dec. 22) at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
Castillo, who previously connected on eight treys against Texas A&M - International last season, started his night off in grand fashion connecting on a trio of three-pointers in the first six minutes of the contest to give UTPA a 15-5 advantage at the 14:01 mark.
"The only way to describe him tonight is awesome," said head coach Robert Davenport. "I got on him a little at halftime and in the second half because he was forcing shots. Instead of being 8-13 tonight, he could have very easily been eight of nine tonight. The one thing that about Ray is that he has stepped up his defensive intensity so much this season, and played a great all-around game tonight."
Wright State would not be derailed by the Broncs' quick start as the Raiders proceeded to put together a 14-4 run over the course of the next three minutes. The duo of Zach Williams and DaShaun Woods would combine for eight of the team's 14 points during that stretch. Woods finished with a team-high 16 points along with six assists, five rebounds and three steals.
The Raiders would increase their lead to as many as six points throughout the remainder of the first half in large part because of a 50 percent (12-24) shooting performance. At the intermission, Wright State held a 36-32 lead.
In the second half, the Raiders would build their lead to nine points at 52-43 with 14:08 remaining after Jordan Pleiman grabbed a missed three-pointer by Zakee Boyd and hit the easily lay-in. Boyd finished the contest with 14 points on 4-12 shooting, including 3-9 from behind the arc.
Wright State would grow cold from the floor following Pleiman's only two points of the game as the Raiders would only connect on one field goal over the next eight minutes. The Broncs would take advantage of WSU's scoring drought as they put together an 18-4 run to take the lead at 61-56 with 6:07 remaining in the half.
The Broncs, who shot 60 percent (15-25) in the second half, continued to build upon their lead and eventually reached double-digits at 67-57 following a Matt Berry (Tulsa, OK/Indiana State University) trey with 4:33 remaining. Berry scored nine points in the game.
UTPA hit six of eight free throw attempts at the end of the game to come away with a 77-59 victory.
"I'm extremely happy with our performance tonight because it was a team effort. Everybody helped out tonight, and there wasn't a single guy who stepped up, but an entire team. We thought as a team and played as a team, and we need to continue with that same mentality," Davenport said.
The Broncs' man in the middle Alvaidas Gedminas (Plunge, Lithuania/Kirtland Community College) scored 14 points along with seven boards, two blocks and an assist. Chris Fagan (Bronx, NY/Trinidad State College) also added 11 points in 23 minutes of action.
Senior Eric Montalvo (La Joya, TX/La Joya High School) finished with six points, but had a career-high eight assists along with two steals in 40 minutes of action. It was the second consecutive game that Montalvo has logged a full 40 minutes at the point guard position since Sergio Sanchez went down with an injury.
"Eric was acting like a point guard tonight. He was distributing the ball extremely well, ran the offense and pressured on defense. He had two turnovers in 40 minutes of play, and he played with great effort tonight. I couldn't be happier with him," added Davenport.
For the first time this season, the Broncs were out-rebounded as Wright State held a 34-32 advantage. However - UTPA was able to notch 12 offensive rebounds, which resulted in 16 second chance points compared to nine for the Raiders.
The Broncs increased their winning streak with three games with the victory and will be back in action on Thursday (Dec. 23) against Mississippi Valley State. Game time is slated 7:30 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information
