Feb. 8, 2007

Box Score

ARLINGTON - After trailing by as much as 13 points in the first half, Lamar University clawed its way back to take a brief second half lead but the Cardinals rally came up just short as Texas-Arlington held on for a 76-74 win Thursday night in Southland Conference action at Texas Hall.

Lamar dropped to 9-14 overall and 3-6 in SLC play. UTA improved to 9-14 overall and 4-6 in SLC play. The Cardinals, who have lost two straight, return home to host Texas State Saturday at 7:05 p.m. in the Montagne Center.

Trailing 40-31 at halftime, Lamar went on a 12-6 run to open the second half. Currye Todd's conventional three-point play at 15:57 capped a 5-0 run and pulled the Cardinals within three at 46-43. A Darren Hopkins jumper at 14:44 made the score 51-49.

After a pair of free throws by Rodrick Epps at 12:10 put UTA up eight, 59-51, Lamar answered with a 10-1 run. Brandon Chappell's 3-pointer at 10:04 made the score 59-57 and a jumper by Lawrence Nwevo pulled the Cardinals within one at 60-59. James Davis gave Lamar its only lead of the game at 61-60 with a pair of free throws at 7:02.

UTA responded with a 7-0 run capped by a Ro'ger Guignard 3-pointer to put the Mavs up 67-61. A Davis layup and Chappell 3-pointer pulled the Cardinals to within one, 67-66, with 3:48 left. Jermaine Griffin hit a layup for UTA and Lamar Sanders countered with a layup for Lamar. Guignard hit another 3-pointer with 3:01 remaining to put UTA up 72-68.

Cardell Hunter was fouled shooting a 3-pointer at 1:17 and made two-of-three free throws. Sanders hit a pair of free throws for the Cardinals at 1:03 to make the score 74-72. Epps hit a driving layup over Davis with 12 seconds left to push the Mavericks' lead to 76-72. Sanders converted a putback with 0.2 seconds left to close out the scoring.

UTA scored the first nine points of the game and led by as much as 13 points, 25-12, on a jumper by Anthony Vereen with 10:05 remaining in the opening stanza. Lamar followed with a 14-4 run to trim the lead to three, 29-26, on a layup by Sanders at 5:10. UTA closed the first half on an 11-5 run to take a 40-31 halftime lead.

Sanders was 8-of-10 from the field and 2-of-3 from the free throw line in scoring 18 points. Chappell came off the bench to score 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Davis, playing his first game following a two-game suspension, scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and grabbed nine rebounds in 26 minutes of action.

Lamar shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field, 36.8 percent (7-of-19) from 3-point range and 90 percent (9-of-10) from the free throw line. The Cardinals outrebounded UTA 34 to 27.

Griffin led UTA with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from the free throw line. Guignard added 17 points on 6-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range. Vereen added 11 points and six rebounds off the bench.

UTA shot 54.4 percent (31-of-57) from the field, 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from 3-point range and 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from the free throw line. The Mavs forced 16 turnovers which led to an 18-12 advantage in points off turnovers.