Dec. 1, 2003

EDINBURG, TX-It took The University of Texas-Pan American's men's basketball team nearly ten minutes to get things going in their game against the Southwestern Assemblies of God at the UTPA Fieldhouse Monday night. The Broncs, who trailed by a point with 11:40 remaining before halftime, outscored SAGU, 32-8 in the final 11 minutes of the first half, exploded to a 47-24 halftime lead, and went on to a 90-60 victory.

Junior forwards Matt Berry (Tulsa, OK/Booker T. Washington HS/Indiana State) and Chris Fagan (Bronx, NY/Storm King HS/Trinidad State) ignited the rally. Following a jumper by junior guard Sergio Sanchez (San Antonio, TX/South San Antonio HS), Berry hit a jump shot and a layup, and Fagan connected on a jumper and three-pointer. Junior forward Andrius Sakalys (Vilnius, Lithuania/M. Dauksos HS/Eastern Oklahoma State), senior forward Delvis Diaz (San Antonio, TX/Jay HS/South Plains College) hit a jumper, and junior guard Ray Castillo (San Antonio, TX/South San Antonio HS/Temple College) capped the run with a three-pointer and a jumper.

The Broncs continued their torrid pace in the second half, scoring the first six points after intermission, and building their lead as high as 45 points, 82-37, with 5:37 remaining before the Lions came back at the end.

Holcomb and Fagan led the Broncs with 14 points each, and Castillo added 10. Holcomb grabbed seven rebounds and Berry and senior guard Eric Montalvo (La Joya, TX/La Joya HS) added six each as Texas-Pan American outrebounded the Lions, 52-34. Sanchez led the Broncs with eight assists. Cainen Drew led SAGU with 13 points.

With the victory, Head Coach Bob Hoffman improved his record at Texas-Pan American to 56-65. He now ranks fourth on the all-time list for victories by a Bronc head coach. Hoffman passed the late Abe Lemons, who had 55. He trails Sam Williams, who had 244, Bill White, who had 94, and Kevin Wall, who finished with 76.

"I was glad that we won, but we still aren't executing the way we need to be," said Hoffman. "We have to do a better job of executing, we have to make more plays, and we have to shoot the ball better. We also need to push the ball more, and score more points in transition. We missed some point-blank shots. We did a much better job on the boards in the second half. I thought Chris Fagan played very well."

The Broncs improved to 2-2 with the victory, while SAGU fell to 2-8 with the defeat. Texas-Pan American will return to action when they hit the road for the first of four consecutive contests away from the UTPA Fieldhouse, visiting Missouri-Kansas City Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m.