ARLINGTON ? Despite 23 points by Corey Allmond including a 7-of-14 performance from beyond the three point arc, Sam Houston State fell to Texas-Arlington 95-85 in a Southland Conference men's basketball game at Texas Hall Saturday afternoon.
UTA (16-11, SLC 9-5) was led by Anthony Vereen with 22 points. Marquez Haynes added 19 points for the Mavericks.
Sam Houston State (16-11, SLC 10-4) had three other players in double figures with DeLuis Ramirez scoring 14, Lance Pevehouse 12 and Barkley Falkner 10.
The lead changed hands twice early in the first half with Sam Houston holding a three-point margin, 17-14, at the 13:06 mark. But UTA went on a 32-19 run to close the period with a 46-36 lead at intermission.
The closest Sam Houston came in the second half was four points, 61-57, after a lay-up by Ashton Mitchell with 11:37 to play.
Sam Houston out-rebounded the Mavericks 37-35. The Bearkats were led by Falkner with 11 rebounds. But UTA out-shot the Kats 62.3 percent (33-of-53) to 38.9 percent (28-of-72).
“At halftime, we gave them 57 percent (shooting) and in the second half, we gave them 70,” Bearkats head coach Bob Marlin said. “It was just like the game here two years ago when they threw it inside and shot 60 something percent against us. But it was their afternoon. Things went well for them, and we couldn't catch a break. We just could not hit the shot to put us over the top.”
The Mavericks (9-5 in SLC, 16-11) got the big plays when they really needed them. Junior guard Rog`er Guignard hit a 3-pointer right before the end of the half that put UTA up 46-36. He finished with 16 points.
Boston College transfer Marquez Haynes, who chipped in 17 points, converted an old-fashioned three-point play at the 2:59 mark of the second half that extended the Mavericks' lead back to 82-72.
The Bearkats had trailed by 15, but Brown, Josten Crow, Allmond and Ashton Mitchell led an 11-4 run that cut the advantage down to 79-72. Haynes' play, which came on a putback, extinguished any attempt at a comeback.
“Coming into the game we knew it was going to be a battle,” said Mitchell, who hit only 2-of-11 shot attempts and finished with six points and seven assists. “Anthony Vereen on the inside is one of the best post players in the Southland Conference. With him you have to double, but you can't really do that with UTA's guards. It seemed like they got ever roll and bounce tonight, and we didn't get either.”
Sam Houston State just couldn't get that one big basket that they needed. Twice the Kats cut the lead to five in the second half when Ramirez hit a pair of free throws at the 13:51 mark and again when Allmond connected on a fadeaway jumper four and a half minutes later.
Mitchell even trimmed the lead to four at 61-57 with 11:34 to go. But each time, UTA answered and never let Sam Houston get any closer.
“We couldn't get over the hump and sometimes it goes like that,” Allmond said. “We need to go back to the drawing board and get ready for these next two games and the tournament. We all missed some shots that we normally don't miss. The ball just didn't roll our way and that is the way it goes sometimes. We just need to do something different and figure some things out.”
The Bearkats close out the regular season with two home contests Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Northwestern State and Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. with Texas State-San Marcos.
The 2 p.m. start represents a time change as the game is under consideration as the Southland Conference TV wild-card game. Other time changes Saturday, March 7, include baseball moving to a 5 p.m. start and softball to 6 p.m.
