UT-Pan American Men’s Basketball Breaks Losing Streak, Defeats St. Mary’s 59-48
EDINBURG – Kyle Sanders led four Broncs in double figures with 14 points, helping the University of Texas-Pan American to a hard-fought 59-48 win over St. Mary’s University in men’s basketball action Thursday night at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
Sanders, a sophomore from Philadelphia, Penn., made 7-of-11 shots from the field and pulled down four rebounds in the win. John Braxton and Brian Merriweather scored 11 points, while Watara Banks tallied 10 points. Mike Parks nearly single-handedly kept SMU in the game with 21 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. Ashley Jalufka was the only other Rattler in double figures with 11 points.
The game was a nip-and-tuck affair until late in the game. St. Mary’s (8-7) only led once the entire game, when Willis Stewart hit a jumper to put the Rattlers up 40-38 with 9:03 left. But Braxton scored six points and dished out two assists as the Broncs (6-9) went on 19-4 run after that to put the game away.
“We were very fortunate to pick up a win against a very quality opponent,” said UTPA Head Coach Bob Hoffman. “This was a huge win for us at this point in time. It gives us momentum going on the road. Kyle really gave us the emotion we needed in the first half. That helped carry us into the second half when other players stepped up and made some plays.”
The win gave the Broncs six on the season, already surpassing their total for the entire 1998-99 season. It is also the highest win total since the 1995-96 season when UTPA went 9-19. The Broncs 6-3 mark at home already is the best since the 95-96 season as well.
The Broncs hit the road for six of the next seven games, starting with a game against Oral Roberts on Saturday, January 15th at 7:35 p.m. in Tulsa, Okla. UTPA’s next home game will be on January 24th at 7:30 p.m. against Florida International. St. Mary’s returns to action on Wednesday, January 19th at 7:30 p.m. at St. Edward’s University.
St. Mary's Rattlers at UT-Pan American
Broncs
UTPA Fieldhouse
January 13, 2000
St. Mary's Rattlers (8-7)
No. Name FG FGA 3FG 3FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 35 Jelani Gibson, f 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 0 1 3 0 0 13 42 Mike Parks, f 6 14 0 0 9 9 5 6 11 2 21 0 3 3 1 31 45 Ashley Jalufka, c 5 11 0 0 1 4 2 5 7 1 11 2 4 0 0 34 12 Buddy Meyer, g 2 6 1 4 0 0 0 2 2 2 5 1 1 0 0 34 25 Michael Steward, g 1 3 1 2 2 4 0 2 2 1 5 1 1 0 1 36 14 James Short 1 3 0 2 0 0 0 3 3 1 2 0 2 0 1 9 20 Roger Garza 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 22 Willis Steward 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 2 0 0 13 30 Rodney Williams 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 0 0 2 0 1 14 53 Jeff Foy 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 3 0 0 1 0 0 15 Team 0 3 3 Totals 17 44 2 8 12 17 8 26 34 21 48 5 19 3 4 200
Total FG% 1st Half: 7-19 .368 2nd Half: 10-25 .400 Game: .386 Deadball 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-3 .333 2nd Half: 1-5 .200 Game: .250 Rebounds F Throw% 1st Half: 5-10 .500 2nd Half: 7-7 1.000 Game: .706 3
UT-Pan American Broncs (6-9)
No. Name FG FGA 3FG 3FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 11 John Braxton, f 3 7 0 2 5 6 2 4 6 3 11 3 3 0 4 32 21 Kyle Sanders, f 7 11 0 0 0 2 1 3 4 3 14 0 0 0 0 32 33 Matt Palmquist, c 2 2 0 0 2 2 1 3 4 4 6 0 0 1 0 14 05 Kwasinda Curtis, g 1 4 0 1 0 2 0 3 3 0 2 4 2 0 2 30 23 Brian Merriweather, g 4 9 1 3 2 2 0 1 1 0 11 1 0 1 0 34 00 Reggie Kuzet 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 03 Gabe Rhoads 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 10 Carlos Haywood 2 4 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 0 18 12 Gary Booker 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 0 0 1 1 1 7 15 Watara Banks 3 8 0 1 4 4 0 3 3 1 10 2 3 1 0 29 Team 2 2 4 Totals 22 49 1 7 14 22 6 21 27 15 59 10 10 4 8 200
Total FG% 1st Half: 11-24 .458 2nd Half: 11-25 .440 Game: .449 Deadball 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-3 .000 2nd Half: 1-4 .250 Game: .143 Rebounds F Throw% 1st Half: 3-6 .500 2nd Half: 11-16 .688 Game: .636 3
Officials: Brent Sherrod, Keenan Stanley, Cal Smith
Technical Fouls: Rodney Williams (SMU) Attendance: 2,652
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Final St. Mary's 20 28 48 UTPA 25 34 59