Dec. 22, 2007
The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball program suffered a late rally by Bethune-Cookman in the third game of the Las Vegas Tournament in Las Vegas, NV on Saturday (Dec.22).
The Broncs suffered their fifth straight loss of the season and dropped their overall record to 6-8 while the Wildcats improved to 4-6 on the season.
The Wildcats opened the first half with a quick 3-0 lead but a jumper by Brian Burrell (Nacogdoches, TX/Paris J.C.) put the green and orange on the scoreboard at the 18:27 mark. The Broncs quickly found their shooting touch taking a 8-7 lead after a lay-up by Nathan Hawkins (San Antonio, TX/Moberly Area Community College) with 12:41 left to go in the first half.
Sophomore, Hawkins finished the first half with 12 points leading the Broncs to a seven point advantage heading into the locker rooms, 28-21.
UTPA finished the first half shooting 45.8 percent (11-of-24) from the field to the Wildcats 34.6 percent (9-of-26) from the floor.
The Broncs momentum continued in the second half as they extended to their largest lead of 15 after a pair of free throws by Hawkins, making the score 41-26 with 12:24 left in the game but the Wildcats never gave up as they clawed their way back into the game cutting the Broncs lead by two, 51-49 after a Dominique Whatley lay-up a the 2:17 mark.
A three-pointer by Danny Puente (McAllen, TX/McAllen Memorial H.S.) put the Broncs up 54-49 with 2:04 left to go in the game but John Holmes fired right back with a lay-up cutting the lead to three with 1:44 remaining.
With under a minute left to go in the game, two costly possessions for the Broncs was all Bethune-Cookman's Whatley needed to seal a 56-54 victory after a three-pointer with three seconds left on the scoreboard.
Three Broncs finished in double-digit scoring, including Hawkins who collected a game-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line to go along with 10 rebounds in 40 minutes of action.
Zach Trader (LaPorte, TX/LaPorte H.S.) finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Burrell chipped in with 10 points in 40 minutes of play for the Broncs.
Whatley finished with a team-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor, 3-of-5 from behind the arc and 1-of-1 from the free throw line for the Wildcats.
For the game, the Broncs finished shooting 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from the field, 42.9 percent (3-of-7) from three-point land and 83.3 percent (5-of-6) from the charity stripe.
The Broncs will be back in action tomorrow for the final day of the Las Vegas Tournament where they will face Texas Southern at the Orleans Arena with game-time yet to be determined.
UTPA Sports Information
