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For Immediate Release: December 29, 2001 EDINBURG, TX–The
University of Texas-Pan American men’s basketball team was simply en
fuego Saturday night.
The Broncs shot a sizzling 71 per
cent from the field in the first half, made 54.3 per cent of their shots
from the field for the game, and defeated LeTourneau, 101-56, at the
UTPA Fieldhouse. UTPA started slowly, leading, 16-8
with 11:54 to play in the first half. However, the Broncs came out of a
media time out and scored the next nine points, outscored the
Yellowjackets, 34-7 during a nine-minute stretch of the first half, and
opened up a 50-15 advantage with 3:08 remaining before halftime. Junior forward Andrius Sakalys
(Vilnius, Lithuania/M.Dauksos HS/Eastern Oklahoma State) had nine points
during the run, igniting it with a pair of layups sandwiched around a
three-pointer by senior guard Mire Chatman (Garland, TX/South Garland
HS/Southwestern Christian JC). Chatman and junior forward Jon Nubine
(Oklahoma City, OK/Putnam City North HS/Carl Albert JC) each had six
points during that stretch as UTPA expanded its lead from eight points
to 35. Chatman led all scorers with 33 points in 22
minutes as UTPA Head Coach Bob Hoffman played all 16 players who suited
up for the game. Chatman made 13 of 16 shots from the field, including
four of five from beyond the three-point arc. Sakalys added 18 points,
Nubine had 11 points and eight rebounds, senior forward Marcus Quinn had
ten points, and junior guard Kevin Mitchell had nine points and a
career-high ten assists. Julius McClasky led the Yellowjackets with 16 points. Tim Dygert added nine. “I thought we really played unselfishly,” said
Hoffman. “Early in the game, I thought we were looking for each other,
and when the game got out of hand, we were still looking for each other.
We had talked about the fact that we were going to play again tomorrow,
and we wanted to get everyone in the game. Everyone on the team is
working hard, and it’s good for them to get to play I thought we
looked pretty fresh at the start, and we didn’t take anything too
lightly, and that’s a good sign.” The crowd of 3053 got a pre-game treat. Prior to
the contest, the Broncs presented the trophy that they won at the San
Juan Shootout December 22nd to the UTPA athletics department. “That was great,” said Hoffman. “It was a
tribute to our players. It’s just a blessing for good things to happen
for our guys.” UTPA improved to
12-3 with the victory, their seventh consecutive win, while LU dropped
to
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