Jan. 19, 2006
Final Stats
ARLINGTON, Texas - Sophomore Larry Posey came off of the bench to score a team-high 15 points and dish out three assists as he led Texas-Arlington to a 71-63 victory over Southeastern Louisiana Thursday evening at Texas Hall.
Down 50-47, with 11:13 remaining in the game, Posey went to work, scoring eight of the next 13 points for Texas-Arlington (9-8, 2-2 SLC) to put the Mavericks back ahead, 60-56, with 5:26 left in the ballgame.
SE Louisiana (8-8, 2-3 SLC) went 3-of-12 the rest of the way and the Mavericks pulled away with some timely free-throw shooting down the stretch, going 7-of-10 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes.
"We did a good job of taking care of the ball tonight," head coach Eddie McCarter said. "That, grouped with a great inside effort, was the key to tonight's victory. Even though we didn't shoot well from the free-throw line the entire night, we made the ones when it counted the most."
Posey ended the night, going 7-of-10 from the floor, which were exactly his numbers last Saturday at Lamar when he dropped in 17 points off of the bench. Sophomore Jermaine Griffin added 13 points and six rebounds, while senior Steven Thomas had a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with his nine points and four assists.
Quennell Green led the Lions with 22 points, going 6-of-9 from behind the arc, but Terry Bryant and Chris Lee shoot a combined 1-of-16 from the floor which didn't help SE Louisiana's dismal shooting. The Lions shot 38.3 percent (23-60) from the floor, but kept the game close by nailing eight triples. Ricky Woods, who scored 14 first-half points, only tallied five points in the second half to finish with 19 points, coupled with his team-high 10 rebounds.
Texas-Arlington jumped out to an early 13-6 lead at the 16:01 mark of the first half. Griffin had the hot hand early scoring six points in the early going.
SE Louisiana fought back using a 21-15 run over the next 12 minutes to cut the Maverick lead to one at 28-27, with 4:20 left in the first frame. Woods was the key during the run, going for eight points during the stretch.
Freshman Anthony Vereen's layup with four seconds remaining in the half pushed Texas-Arlington's lead back to four at 37-33, at the halftime buzzer.
Woods led all scorers with 14 points at the break and Daryl Cohen followed with seven points of his own.
Griffin led the Mavericks with nine points and five rebounds in the first 20 minutes, while Posey chipped in with seven points off of the bench.
"We did a good job of getting position down low and going up strong when we had the chance," Posey said. "We knew they were tough defensively on the inside but we were not going to be denied."
The Mavericks finished with the advantage in the paint, outscoring the Lions, 34-18, and also held a 35-32 advantage on the boards.
The Mavericks will be back in action Saturday when they host an upstart Nicholls State squad. Tip-off is set for 2:05 p.m. at Texas Hall. The Colonels are currently in fourth place in the Southland Conference with a 3-2 conference record, while the Mavericks are tied for fifth with Texas-San Antonio at 2-2. Texas-Arlington took both contests with Nicholls State last season.
