BRONCS LOSE TO TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI, 87-80 IN OT

EDINBURG, TX-The University of Texas-Pan American men’s basketball team used the second half of Saturday night’s game to undo what had happened in the first half.

However, the Broncs couldn’t put Texas A&M-Corpus Christi away, and the Islanders handed the Broncs their first loss of the season at the UTPA Fieldhouse, 87-80 in overtime, before a disappointed crowd of 3875.

TAMU-CC built a 43-39 halftime advantage, then scored the first six points of the second half to take a 49-39 lead with 18:37 remaining.

The Broncs slowly chipped away at the lead. A layup by senior guard Mire Chatman (Garland, TX/South Garland HS/Southwestern Christian JC), a three-pointer by junior guard Kevin Mitchell (Copperas Cove, TX/Copperas Cove HS/McLennan CC) and a jumper by sophomore guard Nick Traylor (Oklahoma City, OK/Putnam City HS/Northwestern Oklahoma State University) reduced the Islanders’ advantage to three, but Travis Bailey connected on a trey moments later to build the lead back to seven. TAMU-CC led, 61-53, with 12:47 left, before a 12-4 run by UTPA allowed the Broncs to tie the score at 65.

Mitchell’s three-pointer with 3:58 remaining gave UTPA a 71-67 lead, and a subsequent jumper and layup by senior center Marcus Quinn (Midwest City, OK/Choctaw HS/Eastern Oklahoma State) put the Broncs ahead, 75-71, with 2:13 to play. But a jumper by the Islanders’ Brian Evans with 1:53 left and a layup by TAMU-CC’s Armond Wainwright 28 seconds later tied the score, and neither team could score until regulation time ended.

Quinn’s free throw, Chatman’s jumper and a pair of free throws by junior forward Andrius Sakalys (Vilnius, Lithuania/M.Dauksos HS/Eastern Oklahoma State) staked the Broncs to an 80-78 lead halfway through the overtime period. But TAMU-CC scored the final nine points of the overtime period, taking the lead on Thomas Bailey’s layup with 1:25 remaining . Evans’ layup made it 84-80, and a free throw by Lamkin and two by Evans in the final 25 seconds accounted for the remainder of the scoring.

“It was a hard one to lose,” said UTPA Head Coach Bob Hoffman. “We went inside and were unable to finish. They did a great job on the boards. We were fortunate to be where we were with them getting 22 offensive rebounds. In the first half, we didn’t do a good job of guarding, and, in the second half, we didn’t do a good job of rebounding. Since we have a good record, we will get everyone’s best shot, and I didn’t feel that we matched their intensity.”

Chatman paced the attack with 22 points, Quinn had 17 points and 13 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double, Mitchell added 13, and Traylor had 10. Brian Hamilton had 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Islanders, Evans added 15, Travis Bailey had 14, and Lamkin had 13 and a school-record 21 rebounds. TAMU-CC outrebounded the Broncs, 55-39.

UTPA dropped to 17-6 with the defeat, and TAMU-CC improved to 8-11. The Broncs will be idle until the visit centenary next Saturday, February 2^nd.

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