Dec. 4, 2006

Box Score

MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois overcame a 10-point deficit to defeat UT Arlington 74-57 at Western Hall Monday evening.

Western Illinois (3-4) snaps a four-game losing streak while UT Arlington (3-4) lost its third straight.

Sammy Hunter led WIU with a season-best 21 points. David Jackson added 19. UT Arlington was led by Brandon Long with a career-high 18 points, Rodrick Epps added 12.

WIU outscored the Mavericks 50-25 in the second half to erase a 32-24 UT Arlington lead at intermission.

"Give Western all the credit, they came out in the second half with intensity and took it to us," said UTA Men's Head Basketball Coach Scott Cross. "It's hard to win when you give up 20 offensive rebounds and 19 turnovers in a game. I didn't think we did a good job of attacking on offense in the second half. We knew they are a good shooting team from the perimeter and I knew they wouldn't not stay cold from outside all night."

WIU, shooting 61.6% from the free-throw line entering the game, made a season-best 26-of-33 (78.8%) from the charity stripe. The Leathernecks also grabbed 20 offensive rebounds as they outrebounded UT Arlington, 47-36.

WIU kept the Mavs without a field goal for 4:26 of the second half and went on an 11-0 run to take the lead for good at 39-38 with 12:42 to play after two free throws from Louis Johnson. WIU continued to build the lead for the rest of the game as they canned 11 of 12 free throws in the final 8:43 of the game.

WIU also heated up from the outside in the second half as the `Necks made 6 of 11 in the final 20 minutes after missing on all 11 attempts in the first half.

UT Arlington used a 17-6 run to end the first half to take a 32-24 lead at intermission. The Mavs trailed through the first 12 minutes of the half until Griffin made a reverse lay up to start the run. UTA retook the lead, 20-18, on a Ro'ger Guignard 3-pointer with 4:55 left in the half. The lead swelled to 10 points, 32-22, after Long nailed a 3-pointer.

UT Arlington returns to action Dec. 16 when they face Oklahoma in Norman at 7 p.m

NOTES: UT Arlington allowed 50 points in the second half for the second straight game. utamavs.com