Merriweather Scores 22, UT-Pan American Men’s Basketball Defeats Pacific, 68-56
EDINBURG – Brian Merriweather scored 22 points to lead a balanced attack as the University of Texas-Pan American won its second straight game, 68-56 over the University of the Pacific Wednesday night at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
Merriweather, the nation’s leading three-point shooter, hit on 4-of-7 shots from behind the three-point arc. John Braxton also made two treys in five attempts. As a team the Broncs were 7-of-17 from beyond the three-point line. Braxton scored a season high 12 points, Kyle Sanders had 11 points and eight rebounds and Kwasinda Curtis had eight points. Mike Preston led the Tiger attack with 13 points, followed by Clay McNight with 11 and Mike Hahn with 10.
The Broncs trailed just twice during the game, but never led by more than 10 points. The Broncs came out quickly, taking a 15-6 lead over the first 10 minutes. But Pacific came back and a pair of McNight free throws with one second left in the half pulled the Tigers to within five at 26-21 at the break.
Pacific wrapped up 12-3 run when McNight hit a three-pointer with 12:19 left in the game, giving the Tigers a 31-29 lead. But that would be last time the Tigers held the lead as the Broncs depth took over in the second half. Gabe Rhoads scored seven second half points and Watara Banks had four points to lead a key 13-1 run that put the game out of reach at 42-32.
The win was the second in a row and third overall this season for the Broncs, who are also 3-1 at the UTPA Fieldhouse. UTPA will return to action on Wednesday, December 29th at 7:30 p.m in the Fieldhouse against Northern Iowa.
University of the Pacific Tigers
at UT-Pan American Broncs
UTPA Fieldhouse
December 22, 1999
University of the Pacific (3-6)
No. Name FG FGA 3FG 3FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 40 Dan Masters, f 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 3 2 0 1 1 0 0 23 45 Mike Hahn, f 5 8 0 0 0 0 3 6 9 2 10 1 2 1 4 37 51 Mike Preston, c 3 6 0 0 7 8 2 2 4 4 13 1 1 0 0 21 21 Peter Heizer, g 2 14 1 4 1 3 2 2 4 1 6 2 9 0 2 30 22 Clay McKnight, g 2 11 1 9 6 6 0 3 3 3 11 2 0 0 4 34 04 Ray Harris 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 10 Jeff Pride 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 6 12 Eli Kiedrowski 1 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 5 15 Tom Cockle 1 4 0 2 0 0 2 1 3 2 2 3 4 0 0 17 35 Barry Marvel 3 4 2 3 1 2 3 2 5 3 9 0 1 0 0 18 50 Ross Mills 1 3 0 0 1 2 2 0 2 2 3 0 0 0 0 6 Team 2 0 2 Totals 18 55 4 20 16 22 17 21 38 21 56 12 21 1 10 200
Total FG% 1st Half: 9-30 .300 2nd Half: 9-25 .360 Game: .327 Deadball 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-10 .100 2nd Half: 3-10 .300 Game: .200 Rebounds F Throw% 1st Half: 10-14 .714 2nd Half: 6-8 .750 Game: .727 4
UT-Pan American Broncs (3-5)
No. Name FG FGA 3FG 3FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 11 John Braxton, f 5 8 2 5 0 0 0 1 1 1 12 3 3 0 3 27 21 Kyle Sanders, f 2 6 0 0 7 8 2 6 8 4 11 1 3 0 0 32 12 Gary Booker, c 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 4 2 0 1 3 0 18 05 Kwasinda Curtis, g 2 5 1 4 3 4 0 2 2 2 8 3 3 0 2 28 23 Brian Merriweather, g 6 16 4 7 6 8 2 2 4 0 22 0 2 1 1 38 00 Reggie Kuzet 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 03 Gabe Rhoads 2 2 0 0 3 3 0 1 1 1 7 1 3 0 0 12 10 Carlos Haywood 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 1 4 0 2 13 15 Watara Banks 3 6 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 3 6 1 2 0 0 15 33 Matt Palmquist 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 1 1 0 1 14 Team 1 3 4 Totals 21 48 7 17 19 23 7 22 29 19 68 11 22 4 9 200
Total FG% 1st Half: 13-30 .433 2nd Half: 8-18 .444 Game: .438 Deadball 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-11 .455 2nd Half: 2-6 .333 Game: .412 Rebounds F Throw% 1st Half: 7-8 .875 2nd Half: 12-15 .800 Game: .826 3
Officials: Steve Carey, Rusty Hicks, Gasper Guercio
Technical Fouls: Pacific (bench) Attendance: 1,933
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Final Pacific 21 35 56 UTPA 26 42 68