Jan. 17, 2004
ARLINGTON, Texas - Senior forward Derrick Obasohan scored on a 3-point play with 26.7 seconds to play to lift Texas-Arlington to a 76-75 win over McNeese State in a Southland Conference game at Texas Hall Saturday afternoon.
Texas-Arlington (6-8, 2-2) evens its record in the SLC while McNeese State falls to 4-11 and 0-4.
UTA was led in scoring by Steven Thomas with 16. Stephen Floyd came off the bench to score 13 and Roy Johnson added 12. McNeese State was led by Eldridge Lewis' 19 points. Jerrick Oliver had 14 and Edward Garriet chipped in 11.
With McNeese State leading 74-73 with 39 seconds to play after a Ryan Price free throw, UTA gave the ball to Obasohan who bulled up a jumper in the paint that rolled around the rim twice before finally falling in. He was fouled and converted the free throw for a 76-75 lead with :26.7 seconds left.
With time running down, Price was called for an offensive foul with 3.9 seconds to play. Obasohan was fouled on the inbounds pass and made of two free throws but Garriet's half-court shot at the buzzer was off to the right.
McNeese State used a trapping half-court defense to force UTA into 11 first-half turnovers to build a 34-32 lead at intermission. McNeese went on a 9-2 run to take a 26-17 lead after a Oliver jumper with 5:56 left in the first half.
UTA stayed close behind the play of seldom-used freshman Jay Neukomm. The 6-foot-11 center scored six points and grabbed five rebounds in the final 4:22 as the Mavericks' bench outscored the Cowboys 16-8 in the first half.
Texas-Arlington ends its non-conference schedule when it hosts Texas-Pan American Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.
NOTES: Neukomm scores career-high six points... UTA's 29 bench points are the most since 33 against Texas-Permian Basin on Dec. 5, 2003... Obasohan moved into 11th place on the UTA all-time scoring list with the final-minute 3-point play... UTA, the top-ranked free throw shooting team in the nation and 79.2%, missed their first seven free throws of the game and ended 18-of-29 (62.1%).
UTA 77, McNeese State 75
McNeese State (4-11, 0-4) - Oliver 8-12 2-3 18, May 3-8 0-0 6, Watts 0-1 1-2 1, Lewis 5-12 5-6 19, Garriet 5-14 0-0 14, Orguz 0-0 0-0 0, Price 2-5 3-4 7, Farmer 3-4 2-2 8, Queen 1-2 0-1 2. Totals: 27-58 13-18 75.
Texas-Arlington (6-8, 2-2) - Obasohan 4-10 2-3 10, Thomas 5-10 6-9 16, Johnson 5-7 0-0 10, Beacham 2-4 2-2 6, K. Howell 2-5 2-4 6, J. Howell 2-4 2-2 6, Dawkins 1-1 0-0 3, Hairfield 0-1 1-2 1, Floyd 4-8 1-3 13, Neukomm 2-2 2-3 6, Henderson 0-0 0-1 0. Totals: 27-52 18-29 77.
Halftime: McNeese State 34, UTA 32. Three-point field goals: MSU 8-20 (Garriet 4-12, Lewis 4-7, Price 0-1), UTA 5-10 (Floyd 4-6, Dawkins 1-1, Obasohan 0-1, Hairfield 0-1). Rebounds: MSU 30 (May 6), UTA 36 (Obasohan, Johnson 6). Assists: MSU 12 (Price, Oliver, Garriet 3), UTA 14 (K. Howell 4). Turnovers: MSU 15 (Price 4), UTA 16 (K. Howell 6). Blocks: MSU 2 (Farmer), UTA 1 (Neukomm). Steals: MSU 5 (Price, Lewis 2), UTA 5 (Beacham 3). Total fouls: MSU 28, UTA 19. Fouled out: Lewis. Technical fouls: J. Howell. Att.: 623.
