March 1, 2004
New Page 1
Jonesboro, Ark. - Arkansas State (17-10) jumped to a
quick lead early in the second half to beat Texas-Pan American (14-14) 83-70.
The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for the Broncos, the third longest
streak in NCAA Division I. UTPA finishes 14-14 for its second winning season in
the last three years.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle
and ended up knotted at 32-32 going into halftime. The Indians came out firing
in the second half with a 12-4 run in the first four minutes. By the middle of
the second half, Arkansas State led by 18. UTPA managed to cut the gap to 10,
63-53 but that was as close as they could get.
For Arkansas State, Dewarrick Spencer
had 30 points and Kim Adams had 19 points.
For Texas-Pan American, Andrius Sakalys
(Sr./Vilnius, Lithuania/Eastern Oklahoma State) had 12 points, Eric Montalvo
(Jr./La Joya, Texas/La Joya HS) had 11 points, Allen Holcomb
(Sr./Chicago, Ill./Allen County CC) had 10 points and 12 rebounds and Sergio Sanchez (Jr./San Antonio, Texas/Temple College) had 10 points.
"We fought like crazy tonight." Said head
coach Bob Hoffman. "We played a good first half. Arkansas State came out
strong in the second half. We played with great emotion and we didn't lose
because of a lack of effort. Going 9-1 over the last ten games is just an
unbelievable finish. It's beyond incredible. At 5-13, they looked deep inside
themselves and started playing for the right reasons. I have not been happier
with any other team that I have coached. We believed in ourselves and got the
job done."
