EARLY EXIT
3/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2005
NATCHITOCHES, La. - Junior guard Jermaine Wallace scored 12 consecutive points in the second-half en route to his game-high 26 points as Northwestern State defeated Texas-Arlington 81-67 in the opening round of the 2005 O'Reilly Auto Parts/Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Tuesday night.
Northwestern State (20-11) records its first 20-win season since 1973-74 and advances to the semifinals on Wednesday. UTA ends the season 13-15.
Tyronn Mitchell canned 11 points and Clifton Lee and Byron Allen added 10 points each for Northwestern State.
Jarrett Howell led UTA with 16 points before fouling out after being assessed a technical foul with 7:28 to play in the game. Larry Posey had 16 points and Steven Thomas 10.
After Howell, the Mavs starting five of Brady Dawkins, Rodrick Epps, Myles Guidry and Thomas combined for just six points in the first 27:00 of the game.
"We just weren't able to make some stops defensively to keep them from making big runs," said UTA Men's Head Basketball Coach Eddie McCarter. "Northwestern is a veteran team and they had some people come up with big plays when they really needed them. I thought our guys played hard, but it just wasn't enough."
Northwestern State never trailed after the first two minutes of the game and built the lead as big a 17, 59-42, after a three-pointer by Wallace with 9:12 to play.
UTA cut the lead to eight, 67-59, after a Rodrick Epps basket with 4:07 to play, but Northwestern State made its last 11 free throws in the final 3:12 to seal the win.
UTA rallied from a 22-12 deficit to tie the game at 22-22. A three-pointer from Howell, a three-point play from Larry Posey and back-to-back baskets by Kenneth Henderson evened the game with 8:24 to play.
The Mavericks could come up with just one field goal over the next six-and-a-half minutes as NSU reeled off a 14-2 run to give the Demons a 36-24 lead after a Clifton Lee free throw with 2:12 to play in the first half.
UTA played without Thomas for most of the first half after picking up his second foul with 9:05 to play in the half.
Northwestern State 81, Texas-Arlington 67
Texas-Arlington (13-15)
Howell. 4-8 4-4 16, Dawkins 2-9 1-1 7, Epps 3-9 1-1 8, Guidry 0-2 0-0 0, Thomas 1-3 8-9 10, Griffin 1-1 0-0 2, Sauls 1-3 0-0 2, Neukomm 0-0 0-0 0, Henderson 3-5 0-0 6, Posey 5-6 6-6 16. Totals: 20-46 20-21 67.
Northwestern State (20-11)
Spencer 1-5 2-2 4, Allen 2-4 6-10 10, Mitchell 2-6 6-6 11, Wallace 8-16 6-7 26, Lee 4-7 1-2 10, Bell 1-1 0-0 2, K. Hancock 0-1 0-0 0, T. Hancock 1-1 0-1 2, Jones 1-1 2-2 4, Forges 1-4 4-5 6, Bargeman 0-2 0-0 0, Tyler 0-0 0-0 0, Dyer 2-4 1-1 5, Ross 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-52 28-36 81
Halftime: NWLA 36, UTA 28. Three-point field goals: UTA 7-22 (Howell 4-6, Dawkins 2-6,m Epps 1-6, Guidry 0-1, Henderson 0-1, Sauls 0-2), NSU 7-19 (Wallace 4-10, T. Hancock 1-1, Mitchell 1-3, Lee 1-2, K. Hancock 0-1, Forges 0-1, Bargeman 0-1)). Rebounds: UTA 28 (Henderson 8), NSU 31 (Dyer and Lee 6 each. Assists: UTA 16 (Dawkins 7), NSU 21 (Lee 5). Turnovers: UTA 18 (Dawkins 5), NSU 10 (Dyer, Jones, Lee and Mitchell 2 each). Blocks: UTA 2 (Henderson and Griffin), NSU 0. Steals: UTA 7 (Henderson 3), NSU 6 (Mitchell 3). Fouls: UTA 27, NSU 20. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: Spencer, Howell. Att.: 3,023.
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