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For Immediate Release: December 22, 2001 CAROLINA, PR–Some
say that you just can’t keep a good basketball team
down. The
University of Texas-Pan American men’s basketball team proved that by
overcoming a 17-point deficit early in the second half and coming back
to defeat Baylor, 72-66, to claim the championship of the San Juan
Shootout at the Coliseum Guillermo Angulo Saturday evening. The
victory gave the Broncs a tournament championship for the first time
since they won the Jowers Jamboree at Southwest Texas State in December,
1989. UTPA
trailed, 50-33, two minutes and 46 seconds into the second half. But
they outscored the Bears, 27-11 during the next seven minutes and
trailed by just a single point, 61-60 after senior guard Mire Chatman
connected on a three-point basket. with 7:30 remaining. Less than a
minute later, junior forward Andrius Sakalys (Vilnius, Lithuania/M.
Dauksos HS/Eastern Oklahoma State)
scored to put the Broncs up, 62-61. A
pair of free throws by sophomore guard Nick Traylor (Oklahoma City,
OK/Putnam City HS/Northwestern Oklahoma State) gave UTPA a 64-62
advantage with 3:09 to play. Then Chatman connected on a pair of
long-range three-pointers to put the Broncs ahead by eight points,
70-62, with just 57 seconds left. “That just changed the
complexion of the game,” said UTPA Head Coach
Bob Hoffman of Chatman's two three-pointers.
“When you get separation like that at the end of the game, it just
changes everything. Last year, we were close a lot of times, and we
weren’t able to finish. This year, every time we’ve had a chance,
we’ve finished.” John Lucas and Wendell
Greenleaf of BU each hit a pair of free throws to make it 70-66, UTPA,
with 20 seconds remaining. But junior forward Jon Nubine (Oklahoma City,
OK/Putnam City North HS/Carl Albert HS) and junior guard Kevin Mitchell
(Copperas Cove, TX/Copperas Cove HS/McLennan CC) each hit crucial free
throws in the waning seconds as the Broncs held off Baylor’s comeback
bid. “We have great senior
leaders, and we weren’t going to be denied,” said Hoffman. “We changed some of the things we were doing, and we
played the best defense in the tournament for a half. Baylor was leading
the Big 12 in threes, and they only hit three of them. Our assistant
coaches did a great job of preparation, and it was just a huge victory
for our program.” The Broncs, who trailed at
halftime, 41-28, utilized part of the halftime break to return to the
court early and run five-on-five drills. “That’s a page out of Abe
Lemons’ playbook, he did that in the finals of the NIT,” said
Hoffman. “I knew we needed to do something different, so we changed up
what we were doing.” Chatman led the Broncs with 20 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament for his efforts. Sakalys had 14 points, Mitchell had 12, while senior forward Marcus Quinn (Midwest City, OK/Choctaw HS/Eastern Oklahoma State) contributed seven points, six rebounds, and four blocked shots. Mitchell and Quinn joined Chatman on the All-Tournament Team. Lucas led Baylor with 16 points. Lawrence Roberts added 15, and Greenleaf had 14. Greg Davis had eight rebounds, and Greenleaf had seven steals. With the victory, the Broncs
won for the fifth consecutive time and improved to 10-3, while Baylor
fell to 10-2 and saw their five-game winning streak come to an end. The
date on which the Broncs won their 10th game of the season,
December 22nd, is the earliest calendar date on which they
have won their 10th game of the season in 40 years, since the
1961-62 season when they went 25-5 under Sam Williams. “Two years ago, we were
fighting for our lives on the road, now we’re playing for
championships,” said Hoffman. “It speaks volumes for our guys and
their beliefs in each other.” UTPA will resume action when
they visit Rice next Thursday, December 27th at 7:00 p.m. MBBBAYLOR122201
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