Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs UT Pan American (2/3/01 at Edinburg, )

For Immediate Release: February 3, 2001
Contact: Derek Smolik, UTPA Director of Athletic Media Relations

Merriweather, Chatman Lead UT Pan American Past Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 95-86

EDINBURG -- Brian Merriweather and Mire Chatman combined for 48 points as UTPA improved to 7-1 at home this season with a 95-86 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the UTPA Fieldhouse.

Merriweather, a senior from Evansville, Ind., scored 27 points and Chatman, a junior from Garland, scored 21 points in the game to lead UTPA. Merriweather hit on 10-of-17 shots from the field, including 5-of-8 from three-point range to lead all scorers. Chatman had a solid all-around game with 21 points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds.

After the teams battled to a one-point margin after one half the Broncs took control in the second half. UTPA went on 21-7 run midway through the second to turn a two-point lead into a commanding 16-point margin. The Islanders would never get closer than seven the rest of the way.

Chatman scored eight points during the run, including a pair of three-pointers, while Merriweather scored five to give the Broncs the lead they wouldn’t surrender.

The Islanders took the early lead and led much of a back-and-forth first half that featured eight ties and eight lead changes. Michael Hicks scored four of his team-high 21 points in an early 8-3 run that gave the Islanders the early lead. But UTPA countered with Kyle Sanders who scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half and eventually took the lead for the first time on a lay-up by Chatman with 14:05 left. Brian Merriweather gave the Broncs the lead going into the locker room with a long three as time expired in the half.

"I thought we really did a great job of looking for each other in the second half," said Head Coach Bob Hoffman. Our players did a great job of entry passing. That kind of opened up our three-point shots during the second half. We did a great job finding them (Merriweather, Chatman) even when they changed defense on us, they played a one-three-one then man-to-man. Once we got them to play man-to-man late in the game we really executed well. We had a great crowd tonight, very enthusiastic, that helped us take it over the top."

The Broncs (9-13) return to action in one week when they host Belmont in the second game of their three game homestand. The teams will face off at 7:30 p.m. at the UTPA Fieldhouse. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi fell to 11-12 on the season.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs UT Pan American 2/3/01 6:25 p.m. at Edinburg, Texas (UTPA Fieldhouse) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 11-12 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 11 Michael Hicks....... f 9-17 0-2 3-4 3 3 6 4 21 3 4 0 3 28 34 Damian Kirkaldy..... f 1-6 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 5 2 0 3 0 3 17 50 Pathe Diene......... c 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 12 03 Brian Evans......... g 3-8 0-1 3-4 0 3 3 1 9 8 4 0 2 34 20 Sennai Atsbeha...... g 0-1 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 3 05 Lee Denmon III...... 2-9 1-7 2-4 2 0 2 2 7 2 3 0 1 23 15 Arunas Drasutis..... 5-9 2-4 1-2 4 1 5 2 13 3 3 0 0 22 21 Brian Hamilton...... 1-2 0-1 0-0 2 0 2 0 2 1 1 0 1 15 23 Armond Wainright.... 9-16 7-12 0-0 2 0 2 4 25 0 2 0 1 27 33 Dustin Shultz....... 2-2 0-0 1-2 1 3 4 2 5 0 0 0 0 11 40 Shaun Hemsley....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 TEAM................ 2 5 7 Totals.............. 32-71 10-28 12-18 19 18 37 23 86 17 21 0 11 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-38 44.7% 2nd Half: 15-33 45.5% Game: 45.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-12 25.0% 2nd Half: 7-16 43.8% Game: 35.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 8-12 66.7% Game: 66.7% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: UT Pan American 9-13 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 11 John Braxton........ f 6-10 2-4 3-4 2 5 7 4 17 3 2 0 0 30 21 Kyle Sanders........ f 6-6 0-0 2-4 1 5 6 4 14 1 1 0 0 35 22 Terrell Hill........ c 3-7 0-0 1-2 4 4 8 0 7 4 2 2 0 34 01 Kwasinda Curtis..... g 2-3 0-1 2-3 0 5 5 3 6 8 7 0 4 35 23 Brian Merriweather.. g 10-17 5-8 2-2 0 2 2 1 27 1 6 0 4 34 04 Joey Tate........... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 15 Matt Hall........... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 3 32 Mire Chatman........ 7-14 3-5 4-5 1 2 3 4 21 5 1 0 4 21 40 Marcus Quinn........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 5 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 35-58 10-18 15-22 9 24 33 19 95 22 21 2 12 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-29 55.2% 2nd Half: 19-29 65.5% Game: 60.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-8 50.0% 2nd Half: 6-10 60.0% Game: 55.6% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 11-16 68.8% Game: 68.2% 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: John Fullilove, Kerry Campbell, Brad Gaston Technical fouls: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi-None. UT Pan American-None. Attendance: 3041 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Texas A&M-Corpus Christi...... 41 45 - 86 UT Pan American............... 40 55 - 95