EDINBURG, Texas - Despite trailing by three with just 1:23 left , the Broncs of Texas-Pan American would not score the rest of the way ultimately falling 77-71 to the Wildcats of Northwestern University Wednesday night at the UTPA Fieldhouse. Broncs guard Perry Petty scored a career high 20 points to lead the way for UTPA.
Despite never leading in the game, and tying the game only once, the Broncs kept it tight with the Big-10 rival throughout the night. With 12:52 remaining in the first half, Petty hit a three to pull the Broncs to within one at 14-13. The Wildcats would not lead by more than six points the remainder of the half and took a 35-29 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
The second half turned into a heavyweight fight as the game's physical play turned up a few notches. The two squads traded threes to start the half from Drew Crawford (NU) and Aaron Urbanus (UTPA). Then with 12:21 remaining in the game the Broncs would once again pull to within three on a jumper by Brandon Provost to make the score 52-49. The Wildcats then went on a 6-0 run capped of by a Drew Crawford three-point play to give Northwestern a nine point lead at 58-49 with 10:24 to play. Michael Thompson's lay-up with 8:24 to play put Northwestern up 11 at 63-52.
The Broncs would respond again, a common theme of Wednesday's game as they would come back scoring the next five points and trailed 65-61 with 6:34 remaining.
“The best thing to take away from tonight game was our resiliency,” UTPA Head Coach Ryan Marks said. “Basketball is a game of runs, and good teams know how to respond when the opponent suddenly has an offensive spurt, and we responded”
Despite the UTPA response, a 7-0 run by Northwestern capped off by an Alex Marcotullio trey gave the Wildcats a 72-61 lead with 4:25 remaining, prompting a UTPA timeout. Aaron Urbanus hit a pair of free throws, part of a 10-2 run to pull UTPA within three at 74-71 with 1:23 to play. The Broncs would not score the rest of the way and fell 77-71.
The UTPA trio of Urbanus, Petty, and Provost handled the scoring load as they along with Jared Maree scored in double figures. Petty's 20 led the way for the Broncs. Urbanus finished with 16, Provost added 13, and Maree scored 15 to lead UTPA. Matt Mierzycki had a game-high eight rebounds in 30 minutes of action. The Broncs shot 57% from the field for the game. Free-throws were the difference as the Broncs shot 18 fewer shots from the stripe on Tuesday.
“Our three perimeter starters (Urbanus Petty, Provost) have the potential to be as good as any trio in the Great West this year,” Marks added. “This was the first night of the regular season where all three were firing on all cylinders.”
Crawford's 25 points led the Wildcats as he was perfect from both the three point line (2-2) anf the foul line (7-7) and finished 8-13 from the field for the game. John Shurna added 20 points while Michael Thompson scored 14 to round out the Wildcat double-digit scorers.
The Broncs return home on Saturday as they face off against in-state rival Texas State at the UTPA Fieldhouse. Tip-off for the UTPA match-up with the Bobcats is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
