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For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 BRONCS EDGE TIGERS, 45-39 SAVANNAH, GA-The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team got the most from the least Wednesday evening. The Broncs won with their lowest point total in a victory since the inception of the shot clock, defeating Savannah State, 45-39, at Tiger Arena. Senior forward Tomas Sitnikovas (Panevezys, Lithuania/Panevezys HS#5/Mid-Plains CC) hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to break a 39-all tie with 1:45 remaining. After Chris Daniels and John Lundy missed shots for the Tigers, the Broncs worked the shot clock down to just a few seconds, junior forward Delvis Diaz (San Antonio, TX./Jay HS/South Plains CC) hit a three-pointer with 45 seconds left as the shot clock expired, and no one scored again. Texas-Pan American got only a single field goal in the first five minutes of the second half. The shot, a jumper by sophomore guard Matt Hall (Katy, TX/Katy HS), gave the Broncs a 25-24 lead. Michael Mitchell's jumper and a free throw by Donald Carson gave Savannah State a 27-25 advantage, but the Broncs then outscored the Tigers, 14-2, to take their biggest lead of the game at 39-29. Diaz started the run with two free throws, Thompson added another, Holcomb made five free throws in six tries, and Diaz capped the run with a pair of jump shots. The Tigers came right back to erase the lead and tie the game. Mitchell started it with a three-pointer and a jump shot, then John Lundy finished it with a steal and layup and subsequent three-pointer to create a 39-all tie with 4:30 remaining. After trailing early, The Broncs came back with a 20-12 run to end the first half with a one-point lead. The Tigers scored nine of the first eleven points, leading, 9-2, when UTPA Head Coach Bob Hoffman was issued his second technical foul of the game and ejected for only the second time in his career at Texas-Pan American with 15:08 remaining in the first half. Junior forward Delvis Diaz (San Antonio, TX/Jay HS/South Plains CC) led the Bronc comeback. He connected on a hook shot and a layup as UTPA drew to within three points of the Tigers at 15-12. Junior forward Prince Thompson (Tupelo, MS/Tupelo HS/ Itawamba CC) made a layup, while junior forward Allen Holcomb (Chicago, IL/ Steinmetz HS/Allen County CC) connected on two free throws and senior guard Kevin Mitchell (Copperas Cove, TX/.Copperas Cove HS/McLennan CC) added three, the last of which gave the Broncs their only lead of the first half, 22-21, at the intermission. Diaz led the Broncs with a career-high 16 points. Holcomb had his team-leading seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds, Kevin Mitchell added six points and five rebounds, and Sitnikovas had five points and six rebounds. The Broncs made just 33.3 per cent of their shots from the field, but
limited the Tigers to just 28.6 per cent. Michael Mitchell had 16 points
and seven rebounds to lead Savannah State, while Lundy added 10 points.
UTPA outrebounded the Tigers, 39-29. "We didn't think they could shoot the ball that well, and we did a good job defensively," said UTPA Associate Head Coach Robert Davenport, who was in charge for the final 35 minutes after Hoffman was ejected. "We talked about doing the little things right, the guys really paid attention to who they were guarding. They were taking shots with less than 10 seconds on the shot clock, which meant that we were doing a good job. We wanted to use the shot clock to shorten the game, get a good shot on each possession, and not panic. We ended up shooting the ball late in the shot clock on most of our possessions, which was to our advantage. Delvis hit some real tough shots, and Tomas hit a big three late. Coach Hoffman is the offensive guru. We had to keep things as simple as possible for me." "It was certainly a strange beginning, but things worked out all right," said Hoffman. "I've only been thrown out three times in my career, twice here (at UTPA). The credit goes to Robert, (Assistant Coach) Mark (Vancuren), the rest of our staff, and our team." The Broncs improved to 10-18 with the victory, while the Tigers fell to 2-23 with the defeat. UTPA will return to action when they host Centenary Monday evening on Senior Night. MBB-48-03021903 |