Jan. 31, 2005

Box Score

The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team (11-10) was powered by a quintet of players who scored in double-figures to lead the Broncs past IPFW (4-17), 83-74, at the UTPA Fieldhouse on Monday (Jan. 31).

"It was an unbelievable team effort tonight," said head coach Robert Davenport. "We shot extremely well, and I expect us to shoot well when we are playing at home. We shot 50 percent (9-18) from behind the three-point line because we did what we've done all season by playing the inside-outside game. I was very pleased with our performance."

Chris Fagan (Bronx, NY/Trinidad State College) and Derrick East (Binger, OK/Lookeba-Sickles H.S.) could have been mistaken for twins on the court as the pair finished the game with identical 14-point, seven-rebound performances. Over the past two games, East is averaging 17.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 80 percent during that span.

The Broncs and Mastodons played tight through the first 10 minutes of the game and were tied at 18 a piece following an Eric Montalvo (La Joya, TX/La Joya H.S.) jumper in the lane at the 10:00 mark. After the UTPA guard's score, the Broncs went on a 16-4 run over the course of the five minutes capped off by a Sergio Sanchez (San Antonio, TX/Temple College) trey at the top of the key to take the score to 34-22 with 5:05 remaining.

UTPA would extend its lead to 16 points at 41-25 following a Ray Castillo (San Antonio, TX/Temple College) trey from the corner with 2:45 remaining before intermission. Castillo connected on a trio of three-pointers in the game and finished with nine points. The Broncs would take a 41-29 lead heading into halftime.

In the second half, the `Dons made a slight run towards the end of the game and were able to cut the lead down to nine points at 77-68 with 3:05 remaining in the game. Senior David Simon was IPFW's go-to scorer as the `Dons center recorded his third consecutive double-double (points-rebounds) against the Broncs with a 24-point, 16-rebound game.

The Broncs would not be derailed by IPFW's run at the end of the game and used a 53.6 percent (15-28) shooting performance in the second half to secure the 83-74 victory.

Montalvo finished with 12 points and five assists while Sanchez collected 10 points and six assists for the Broncs. Matt Berry also collected 12 points, three rebounds, three assists and a single block in 26 minutes of action.

UTPA shot 51.8 percent (29-56) for the game, including 50 percent (9-18) from behind the three-point line. IPFW held the advantage on the boards by a 43-33 margin, including 26 offensive rebounds.

Beau Bauer scored 22 points and added eight rebounds and four assists for the `Dons while Peter Campbell notched 13 points in 29 minutes of action.

The Broncs will be back in action on Saturday (Feb. 5) at Texas A&M - Corpus Christi. In their last meeting, the Islanders handed UTPA a 66-61 setback on Jan. 26th at the UTPA Fieldhouse. The game is slated to start at 7:00 p.m.

UTPA Sports Information