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For Immediate Release: December 1, 2001 MINNEAPOLIS,
MN–For 16 minutes, the University of Texas-Pan American had their game
against Minnesota right where they wanted it at Williams Arena Saturday
afternoon.
But
the Gophers exploded, outscoring the Broncs, 16-2 during the remainder
of the first half and pulling away for an 89-72 victory.
The Broncs led for five minutes in
the latter stages of the first half, with junior forward Tomas
Sitnikovas’ (Panevezys, Lithuania/Panevezys HS #5/Mid-Plains CC)
three-pointer putting UTPA ahead for the final time, 28-26, with 3:56
remaining. But Jerry Holman’s jumper tied it for the Golden Gophers,
Rick Rickert’s layup untied it, and UM scored 11 unanswered points to
take a 37-30 lead. Junior forward Andrius Sakalys
(Vilnius, Lithuania/M.Dauksos HS/Eastern Oklahoma State) ended the
Gopher run with a layup with 1:32 to play in the first half. But UM
scored the final five points of the first half and took a 42-30
advantage into the locker room. UTPA trailed for most of the first
half. But senior guard Mire Chatman (South Garland, TX/Garland
HS/Southwestern Christian JC) connected on a three-pointer with 6:46
remaining in the first half to put the Broncs ahead, 19-18. UTPA led by as many as five points, and ended the first half with a 31-30
advantage. Junior forward Jon Nubine (Oklahoma
City, OK/Putnam City North HS/Carl Albert JC) connected on a three-point
shot, and senior guard Mire Chatman (South Garland, TX/Garland
HS/Southwestern Christian JC) scored on a layup and added a free throw
to halve UM’s advantage at the start of the second half. But the
Gophers scored the next eight points, and were never headed. “We played hard, but we made some
mistakes at critical times, although they weren’t because of a lack of
effort or intensity,” said UTPA Head Coach Bob Hoffman. “We were
playing against a very good team, and those things will happen
sometimes. We couldn’t find them a couple of times defensively when
they made that run at the end of the first half. We just weren’t able
to match up quickly enough. We had some more chances to score, but we
just couldn’t finish. It was pretty much a 12 point game the rest of
the way, and we had to foul them late.” Chatman had to sit out for half of
the first half due to foul trouble, and Hoffman was pleased with the way
the rest of the Broncs accepted the challenge. “Our guys stepped up
and did a good job in that situation,” said Hoffman. “Mire’s a
terrific player, but they did a really good job taking charges on him.
Andrius (Sakalys) had a good game, and Jon (Nubine) played well, as did
(sophomore guard) Nick Traylor (Oklahoma City, OK/Putnam City
HS/Northwestern Oklahoma State). Chatman led all scorers with 21 points, and added
four assists and five steals. Sakalys had 12 points, while Traylor added
11. Senior forward Marcus Quinn (Midwest City, OK/Choctaw HS/Eastern
Oklahoma State) led the Broncs with seven rebounds. Travarus Bennett led UM with 19 points, Dusty
Rychart added 18, Michael Bauer had 13, and Kevin Burleson added 10.
Rychart and Kerwin Fleming each had 6 rebounds as the Gophers
outrebounded UTPA, 37-33. The crowd of 12,110 was the largest the Broncs have
played in front of in two years. The Broncs lost at Arkansas, 70-56, in
front of 13,667 people December 15, 1999 UTPA fell to 4-2 with the defeat, while Minnesota
improved to 4-1. The Broncs will hit the road again next week, visiting
Portland Wednesday night and Washington State Friday evening. MBBMINNESOTA120101 |