Feb. 19, 2005

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On Saturday (Feb. 19) at the UTPA Fieldhouse, The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team (12-13) was holding its annual Senior Night in front of 1,700 Valley faithful.

However - it was one senior that stood above all others on this night.

Senior Chris Fagan (Bronx, NY/Trinidad State College) recorded the best game of his career with a 30-point, 14-rebound performance en route to leading the Broncs past Central Baptist College (9-15), 79-69.

"The only thing that you can say is that Chris's performance was unbelievable tonight. That really sums up his entire game - unbelievable," said head coach Robert Davenport.

The Bronx, NY, native finished 8-11 from the field, including 2-4 from behind the three-point arc. He also drained 12-15 free throws in the game - both of which were career-highs. The most amazing part of this is that it happened in 21 minutes of action.

When looking at the two lineups, it wouldn't seem as though this would be a close game, but Central Baptist proved to be a pest to the Broncs. After falling behind 50-24 with 15:42 remaining in the second half, the Mustangs proceeded to go on a 37-16 run over the course of the next 10 minutes to close the gap to five points at 66-61.

That spurt would be as close as Central Baptist would come to the lead. The Broncs would build the lead back to double-digits at 71-61 with 2:13 remaining in the game when Matt Berry (Tulsa, OK/Indiana State University) drained a pair of free throws. UTPA continued to maintain a slight lead during the remainder of the game and slipped by with a 79-69 victory.

"I'm obviously happy with the victory. At times, we didn't handle their trap real well and weren't as aggressive as we could have been. When we attacked, we were extremely successful, but we played on our heels a little too much, and Central Baptist is a very athletic team so we had our hands full," said Davenport.

On this night, it was the Broncs' seniors that really stepped up their game as they combined to score 72 of the team's 79 points. Sergio Sanchez (San Antonio, TX/Temple College) finished with 14 points while Ryan Lange (Inwood, IA/Northeast Community College) tied a career-high with 12 points on 5-7 shooting and added eight rebounds to the cause.

"It was an unbelievable effort from our guys tonight. They really played their tails off, and I'm extremely proud of them," Davenport added.

The Broncs finished the game shooting 46.8 percent (22-47) from the field compared to 38.2 percent (26-68) for the Mustangs. UTPA also held a 47-33 advantage on the boards.

UTPA will be back in action on Monday for its home finale against Utah Valley State with game time slated for 7:30 p.m.

UTPA Sports Information