Jan. 21, 2004
Contact: Dave Geringer, UTPA Sports Information Director, (956) 381-2240
ARLINGTON, TX-Texas-Arlington outscored The University of Texas-Pan American's men's basketball team, 14-6 during the first five minutes of the second half and went on to a 73-54 victory over the Broncs at Texas Hall Wednesday evening.
The Mavericks, who led 27-24 at halftime, increased their lead to 41-30 with 15:03 remaining to play. UTA steadily increased their advantage until they stretched it to 20 points, 70-50, with two minutes remaining.
Texas-Pan American had used an 8-2 run during the final 4:30 of the first half to cut the Mavericks' lead to 27-24 at halftime. Senior forward Allen Holcomb (Chicago, IL/Steinmetz HS/Allen County CC) began the run with a jump shot, junior guard Zach Weir (Waxahachie, TX/Waxahachie HS/Hill College) added a layup and a pair of free throws, and senior forward Andrius Sakalys (Vilnius, Lithuania/M. Dauksos HS/Eastern Oklahoma State) connected on a pair of free throws.
Junior center Ryan Lange (Inwood, IA/West Lyon HS/Northeast CC) hit a layup and junior guard Ray Castillo (San Antonio, TX/South San Antonio HS/Temple College) added a three-pointer at the outset of the second half, but Texas-Pan American was unable to stem the tide.
Holcomb led the Broncs with 12 points, Lange had 10 points, nine rebounds, and six blocked shots, Castillo added nine points, and Fagan added eight. Texas-Pan American made just 30.8 per cent from the field, and hit just three of 30 shots from three-point range.
Donny Beacham led had a double-double for the Mavericks, scoring 20 points and grabbing 19 rebounds. Keith Howell added 12 points, Steve Floyd added 11, and Derrick Obasohan added 10. UTPA held Texas-Arlington to 38.5 per cent from the field, but the Mavericks outrebounded the Broncs, 58-37, and grabbed 21 offensive rebounds.
"We took some good shots, and this is a good shooting gym, but our shots just didn't go down," said UTPA Head Coach Bob Hoffman. "We played hard, but we didn't make our shots, and when you don't make your shots, sometimes your offense affects your defense. It's not for lack of trying, or for lack of effort, but we have to keep trying to figure out what to do. Most of our shots were open, but we couldn't get them to go down. We're going to take a couple of days off and try to regroup mentally."
Texas-Pan American fell to 5-13 with the defeat, while UTA improved to 7-8. The Broncs will return home to play Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne next Wednesday evening.
