The Shorthorn - Men's basketball sinks Islanders in overtime victory

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Men's basketball sinks Islanders in overtime victory

Written by Clint Utley, The Shorthorn sports editor

Wednesday, 03 February 2010 11:07 PM

Senior guard Brandon Long shoots as he jumps through defenders during the Mavericks' win over the Islanders on Wednesday at Texas Hall. (The Shorthorn: Andrew Buckley)

Wednesday night’s men’s basketball game between UT Arlington and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was supposed to be a battle between Maverick senior guard, Marquez Haynes, and Islander senior forward, Kevin Palmer.

The fans at Texas Hall were treated to a different show.

Neither Haynes nor Palmer reached their season scoring averages but the Mavericks (11-9, 3-4 Southland Conference) defeated the Islanders (11-10, 5-2 SLC) 71-66 in an overtime victory.

The Islanders started overtime on top, with three early points. Senior guard Brandon Long answered with a three-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 62-62.

Later in overtime, Long hit another three-pointer with 2:08 left on the clock to give the Mavs a three-point lead, 69-66.

Sophomore forward LaMarcus Reed III sank two free throws to seal the victory.

Men’s head coach Scott Cross said after the game that the UTA team is transforming itself into what he envisioned at the start of the season — one of hard work and toughness.

“The team is a blue-collar type of team,” he said. “We just grinded that game out. We won with defense, we won by playing hard. That’s the type of team we have to be in order to win games.”

That type of team took a while to get going, both teams did.

The Islanders took a 27-25 lead into halftime although Haynes hit a buzzer-beating jumper to cut the lead to two.

The Mavericks shot 17 percent from three-point range in the first half compared to 14 percent from the Islanders.

The two teams’ shooting improved after the first half. UTA shot 43 percent in the second half and overtime.

Senior guard Dwight Gentry II is fouled while attempting a layup Wednesday during the second half of the Mavericks� 71-66 win over the Texas A&M Corpus Christi at Texas Hall. Gentry contributed seven points, two rebounds and two assists to the victory. (The Shorthorn: Andrew Buckley)

Senior guard Brandon Long scored 19 points and shot 55 percent from three-point range. Haynes added 20 points to lead the team.

Long said the Mavs are capable of playing as well as the best teams in the conference.

“We just started off slow,” he said. “It shows that we can play with the best of the best in the conference.”

Although the senior guards shared most of the scoring responsibility, Cross said another senior’s rebounding had a big impact.

“Tommy Moffitt,” he said. “It’s a team thing, but Tommy Moffitt comes in and he grabs 10 rebounds. If he didn’t grab those 10 rebounds, we lose that game.”

The Mavs were outrebounded 41-39, but against a bigger lineup, Cross was comfortable with his team’s ability to compete.

“They were 35th in the country in rebounding margin,” he said. “They’re outrebounding teams by 5 1/2 a game.”

The Islanders’ leading scorer Palmer was held to 16 points by the Maverick defense. Haynes said the return of Moffitt and junior forward Trey Parker to the paint has impacted the team.

“Their impact is experience,” he said. “They’ve seen it all down there. Trey and Tommy, they’ve been through the wars. They know what to expect. They can even anticipate it before it happens.”

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