Feb. 20, 2006

Box Score

There are times when you wish that basketball was more like a computer.

If that was the case then the UTPA men's basketball team would have used the `backspace' key to erase the first 10 minutes of the contest, which saw the Broncs dig themselves a deficit that they would never recover from.

Texas A&M - Corpus Christi took advantage of 25 UTPA turnovers, including 15 in the first half, en route to securing a 74-55 victory at the UTPA Fieldhouse on Monday (Feb. 20).

"You are not going to win too many games when you turnover the ball 25 times and shoot 33 percent on your home court," said head coach Robert Davenport. "I told the guys that we had more turnovers than shot attempts before the first two media timeouts. We just couldn't get ourselves out of the hole for the entire game."

The Broncs committed eight turnovers before the first media timeout, allowing Texas A&M - Corpus Christi to take an early 7-0 lead following a steal then lay-in by junior Taurean Mitchell. The Islanders continued to take advantage of the Bronc miscues as they upped their lead to 14 points at 15-1 with 11:35 remaining in the game after Mike Williams converted on a jumper in the paint for Texas A&M - Corpus Christi.

Junior Larry Sheppard (Baton Rouge, LA/Iowa Western C.C.) finally converted on the first field goal for the Broncs at the 8:58 mark when he slashed through the lane for an easy lay-in. At the time of the Broncs' first made shot, Texas A&M - Corpus Christi had pushed the lead to 16 points at 20-4 prior to Sheppard's basket.

During the final 8:58 of the first half, the Broncs and Islanders played even as they both scored 13 points prior to halftime. In that span, sophomore Dexter Shankle (Katy, TX/James E. Taylor H.S.) connected on a pair of three-pointers allowing the Broncs to get as close as 12 points at 31-19 with 52 seconds left in the first half.

Following the intermission, the Broncs got within 10 points at 38-28 with 15:48 remaining in the game when sophomore Danny Puente (McAllen, TX/McAllen Memorial H.S.) converted on a lay-in. Puente proved to be a major player in the half as he scored a career-high 17 points with all of those coming in the second frame.

"Danny really had a good game tonight. He shot the ball well, and he definitely earned some more minutes with his efforts. He continues to get better with every game, and I was pleased with his defense because he really stepped up tonight," added Davenport.

Following Puente's lay-in, the Islanders proceeded to go on a 9-0 run to up the lead to 19 points at 47-28 with 12:40 left in the game, which was capped off by a jumper by Chris Daniels. The Islanders continued to put the pressure on the Broncs throughout the remainder of the half, increasing their lead to as many as 25 points at 67-42 with less than two minutes remaining in the game.

"We dug ourselves such a big hole that it was hard for us to come out of it. We played with a lot of intensity in the second half, and we were able to exploit one of their weaknesses, but we needed to do more. The biggest difference in the game was that they were able to capitalize on our mistakes, and we had trouble capitalizing on their mistakes," added Davenport.

For the game, Texas A&M - Corpus Christi shot 48.3 percent (29-60) from the field, including 53.6 percent (15-28) in the second frame. The Broncs were cold from the floor as they only converted on 33.3 percent (18-54) of their attempts, including 24.0 percent (6-25) in the first half.

The Islanders had a trio of players reach double figures in the game with Aaron White leading the way with 17 points, including a half-court three-pointer as time expired. He also added six rebounds, two steals and two assists in the contest. Cedric Smith and Mike Williams each posted double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Shankle finished with 15 points, four rebounds and four steals in the game while Sheppard added nine points, seven assists and five steals.

The Islanders upped their record to 18-8 while the Broncs fell to 7-21 on the season.

The Broncs will be back in action for their home finale of the season against South Dakota State on Saturday (Feb. 25) with tip-off set for 1:30 p.m.

UTPA Sports Information