Mavericks snap 3-game losing streak with win over Arkansas Tech University

Two seniors stepped up to help the men’s basketball team (3-3) end a three-game losing streak on Sunday.

Forward Jabari Narcis scored a career-high 23 points, while guard Brian Warren totaled a career-high 12 assists in UTA’s 85-68 win over Arkansas Tech University at College Park Center.

Warren said the team picked up positive momentum after it came away with a narrow 72-66 loss against the No. 8 ranked Gonzaga University Tuesday.

“[It gave us] the type of energy that we can play with anybody in the country as long as we do what we’re supposed to do,” Warren said.

Narcis got UTA off to a quick start after he went 2-2 from the 3-point line. The Mavericks maintained a lead throughout most of the first half, despite a solid outing from Arkansas Tech.

UTA led 43-36 at halftime, with their largest lead being eight points up until then. Narcis went into the break as the leading scorer, picking up 13 points on 5-7 shooting from the floor.

Arkansas Tech managed to close the gap multiple times in the second half, but UTA stayed in front for most of the game. Narcis hit on five of his eight 3-point attempts in the contest to bring his scoring total to 23 points. He also collected 11 rebounds to pick up his second double-double of the season.

Warren also had a double-double in the victory as he scored 15 points and tallied 12 assists in the contest.

Head coach Chris Ogden said playing against a team like Arkansas Tech helped the Mavericks get back on track before they head out to their next road stretch.

“It’s just a maturing process. We don’t expect to be playing our best basketball right now, but we do expect to get better,” Ogden said.

The men’s basketball team will travel to Elon, North Carolina, to take on Furman University at 2 p.m. Wednesday as part of the Battle 4 Atlantis mainland tournament.

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