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For Immediate Release: December 7, 2001 PULLMAN,
WA–The University of Texas-Pan American’s men’s basketball game
against Washington State Friday night couldn’t have been any closer.
The
host Cougars
staved off two late chances by the Broncs and held on for a 70-67 win at
Friel Court.
Guard
Jerry McNair’s torrid three-point shooting allowed the Cougars to
erase UTPA’s 35-26 halftime lead. McNair made six three-point shots,
three of them coming in succession in the second half to tie the game at
47.
The Broncs battled back, but trailed
by four until junior guard Kevin Mitchell (Copperas Cove, TX/Copperas
Cove HS/McLennan CC) connected on a long three-point shot to cut WSU’s
advantage to 68-67 with 13 seconds remaining. Two seconds later, the
Cougars’ Mike Bush missed a free throw, giving UTPA a chance to take
the lead. But a pass by junior guard Mire Chatman (Garland, TX/South
Garland HS/Southwestern Christian JC) was intercepted, and two
subsequent free throws by McNair made it 70-67,WSU, with 2.4 seconds
remaining. “We said we were going to push the
ball up the floor if he missed the free throw,” said UTPA Coach Bob
Hoffman. “But Mire got hemmed in and he tried to stop and look for
somebody.” The ball came loose on UTPA’s last
possession, but Mitchell picked it up and hit a three-pointer from the
corner at the buzzer. However, the basket was disallowed because it went
over the backboard. “I was disappointed for the guys,
they worked so hard to get it done and did everything we asked of
them,” said Hoffman. “I really thought we deserved to win tonight.
We had a couple of lapses late, and didn’t finish all the plays we
needed to. We are a lot tougher-minded now than we were three games ago
on the road.” Chatman led UTPA with 29 points and
five assists, making 10 of 19 shots from the field. Junior forward
Andrius Sakalys (Vilnius, Lithuania/M.Dauksos HS/Eastern Oklahoma State)
added 11 points, while Mitchell contributed 10 points and four assists.
Junior forward Terrell Hill (Carnegie, OK/Carnegie HS/Seward County CC)
grabbed six rebounds as the Broncs outrebounded WSU, 34-30. McNair had 26 points to lead the
Cougars. J Locklier added 17 points, while Marcus Moore had 13. The Broncs fell to 5-3 with the defeat, while
Washington State improved to 4-2. UTPA will return home to play Lamar
Thursday evening at 8:00 p.m. “It would be great to have a full
house,” said Hoffman. MBBWASHINGTONSTATE120701 |