BOX SCORE
VERMILLION, South Dakota – The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team could not hold on to a 13 point second half lead, as they dropped their 13th straight game in a thrilling 76-73 defeat to the University of South Dakota Saturday night at the DakotaDome.
The Broncs (3-19, 0-5) got off to a torrid start thanks to the hot shooting of Brandon Provost. Provost hit a pair of threes during a 9-2 run to start the game giving UTPA the early seven point advantage with 16:30 to play in the period. Prvost would hit another three at the 12:56 mark of the first half to increase the lead into double digits at 16-6.
The Broncs would hold off a late first half rally from the Coyotes (11-10, 3-1) and led 35-30 at the intermission. The Broncs led the Coyotes 35-29 in the first half in the semi-finals of last year's Great West tournament before eventually falling to USD 76-71.
Texas-Pan American, looking for their first road victory of the season, came out on fire to start the second period. Aaron Urbanus drained a three-pointer for the Broncs first second half basket, sparking a 9-0 run giving UTPA a 43-30 lead with 17:06 to play in the game. The 13-point advantage was the largest of the game for the Broncs.
Later in the half, Ruben Cabrera powered in for a lay-up with 9:04 to play, giving the Broncs a seven-point advantage at 57-50. The Coyotes would then begin the first lef of their rally with a 10-3 run capped off by a Louie Krogman three which tied the game for the first time at 60 with 5:48 to play in the game. Krogman was just getting started in the USD rally.
Two USD possessions later the Coyotes grabbed their first lead of the game at 64-62on a Jake Thomas fastbreak lay-up with 4:45 to play in the game. Krogman's lay-up with 2:47 remaining in the game capped off a 10-2 Coyote run giving USD a 70-64 lead, the largest of the game for USD.
On the ensuing possession, Urbanus cut the deficit in half nailing a long contested three making the score 70-67. The Coyotes responded with a Jordon Boots lay-up, pushing the USD lead back up to five. With the Broncs trailing by three with nine secons to play in the game, Matt Mierzycki pulled down the rebound after a Jared Maree miss, to pull the Broncs within a point with five seconds to play. Krogman would be fouled after in-bounds and hit a pair of free throws pushing the lead back to three. A last second heave fell short with the Broncs falling by three.
Urbanus, poured in 20 points for the second straight outing to lead all Texas-Pan American scorers. Provost added 15 for UTPA. Mierycki tallied his second double-double of the season scoring 12 points with 12 boards. Maree chipped in with 10 points. The Broncs were lights out from beyond the arc making seven of their 13 three-point attempts (54%). The Broncs also won the rebounding battle 35-33.
Krogman was the second half star for the Coyotes, scoring 16 of his 21 points in the final frame to lead for USD. Kendall Cutler struggled to find his shot, but managed to chip in with 12 points and a team high seven assists. Ricardo Andreotti and Trevor Gruis each scored 10 points with six rebounds to help the Coyote effort. Thomas hauled in a team-high seven boards. The Coyotes shot 52% from the field for the game and their bench outscored UTPA's 27-22.
The Broncs next match-up will be on Thursday night when they face Great West Conference rival Utah Valley. It will be the first home game for Texas-Pan American since December 29th. Tip-off for their game against Utah Valley is scheduled for 7:30 and is the back end of a GWC double header with the women's team who play Utah Valley at 5:30 PM. Tickets are available by calling 956-665-2221 or by logging on to UTPABroncs.com.
