Jan. 26, 2005
Box Score
In the Shakespearean masterpiece, Hamlet poses one of the most famous phrases in all of literature, "To be or not to be... that is the question?"
For The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball, the Broncs posted a different spin to Hamlet's phase, "To three or not to three... that is the question?"
`Not to three' proved to be the correct answer for the Broncs (9-10) as UTPA converted on only seven of 31 attempts from behind the arc, allowing Texas A&M - Corpus Christi (13-6) to escape with a 66-61 victory at the UTPA Fieldhouse on Wednesday (Jan. 26).
In a tightly played first half, the Broncs tossed up 16 shots from behind the three-point line in the first 16 minutes of the frame. However - the Broncs, who average 9.8 treys at home per evening, were only able to convert on three of those shots.
"We just didn't do what we needed to do tonight," said head coach Robert Davenport. "The key to our success shooting behind the line is that we attack the lane then dish out to the open guy. Tonight, we didn't play inside-out like we have in the past. Instead, we just caught the ball and shot it. We've been preaching patience on offense and impatience on defense, but we were impatient on both ends of the floor."
Despite their lack of success from behind the arc, the Broncs held a one-point lead at 29-28 going into intermission. In the frame, the Broncs had all sorts of success inside the three-point line as they collected eight field goals in 12 attempts.
The Islanders responded in the second half and built their lead to 12 points at 57-45 with 6:05 remaining in the game after Corey Stokes converted on a lay-in. Following the bucket, the Broncs struck with a 13-2 run of their own capped by a pair of free throws from senior Matt Berry (Tulsa, OK/Indiana State University).
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi would not be derailed as Travis Bailey drained his final of three treys in the game to up the Islanders' lead to four points at 62-58 with 2:27 remaining in the contest. Bailey finished with a game-high 21 points on 8-14 shooting in 35 minutes of action.
Senior Sergio Sanchez (San Antonio, TX/Temple College), who started his first game since being injured on Dec. 19th, drained a three on the other end of the court to get the Broncs back within one point at 62-61 with 1:07 remaining in the contest.
Following a pair of Bailey charity shots, the Broncs were able to toss up one more desperation three, but Eric Montalvo's (La Joya, TX/La Joya H.S.) trey came away empty handed. The UTPA senior played a stellar second half, scoring all of his team-high 13 points in that frame.
"Eric played like Eric always does. You know that if he's on the court that he's going to play hard and do a good job. Tonight, he really had a great second half," added Davenport.
Senior Alvaidas Gedminas (Plunge, Lithuania/Kirtland Community College), who played with a broken foot, scored 11 points in 31 minutes of action while Chris Fagan (Bronx, NY/Trinidad State College) added nine points and seven rebounds.
For the game, the Islanders finished with a 47.3 (26-55) shooting percentage compared to 39.6 (21-53) for UTPA and also held a 31-30 advantage on the boards. Despite their display from the outside, the Broncs shot 64 percent (14-22) from inside the arc.
Thomas Bailey collected 12 points while Corey Lamkin added 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Broncs will be back in action on Saturday (Jan. 29) against Northern Colorado. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information
