Feb. 7, 2006
Final Stats
MONROE, La. - Texas-Arlington blew a nine point lead as Louisiana-Monroe defeated the Mavericks, 80-66, Tuesday evening at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
Louisiana-Monroe (9-12, 5-4 SLC) outscored the Mavericks, 50-27 in the second half as Gary Robinson scored 11 of his 12 points in the final period. The backbreaker for the Mavericks was the 20-2 run the Indians opened the second half with.
Texas-Arlington (11-11, 4-5 SLC) dropped its third straight game and they fell to seventh place in the Southland Conference standings.
"They outplayed us in the second half," head coach Eddie McCarter said. "They made the outside shots when they had to. They definitely played with more energy than we did."
Louisiana-Monroe opened the second half on a 12-2 run in the first four minutes to take their first lead, 42-41, at the 15:56 mark. Tony Hooper had five points to key the Indian run.
The Indians increased their lead to 63-48, with 8:19 remaining in the game. Louisiana-Monroe used a 21-7 run during the decisive run. Dalky Melendez registered eight points during the run, while Adrian Harper added five points.
Five Maverick players scored in double figures with senior Steven Thomas leading the way with 15 points, senior Jarrett Howell adding 12 points and sophomore Larry Posey tallying 11 points and seven rebounds in his first start in more than two months. Senior Brady Dawkins and sophomore Rodrick Epps both had 10 points.
The Indians also had five players in double-figures with Melendez leading the charge with 16 points. Harper just missed a double-double, tallying 13 points and nine rebounds, while both Hooper and Roshon Jacobs added 13 points each.
Texas-Arlington started the game off on fire, nailing their first five shots from the field. Dawkins registered five points during the stretch to lead the Mavericks and give them a 13-2 lead at the 15:37 mark of the opening half.
Louisiana-Monroe managed a quick 6-0 run to cut the lead to 13-8, with 13:34 remaining, but Thomas outran the Indians down the court for a fast-break layup to go along with his alley-oop dunk to put the lead to 17-8, with 10:43 remaining in the first half.
Howell's trey from the corner at the 6:33 mark to increase the Maverick lead to 27-14, with just under seven minutes remaining.
The Indians fought back once again, by using three treys and a breakaway steal and dunk from Hooper to cut the Texas-Arlington lead down to three at 30-27.
The Mavericks used a 9-3 run to end the half, which included a three-pointer by Howell at the buzzer to take a 39-30 lead into the break.
Texas-Arlington was firing on all cylinders in the first half, connecting on 62 percent of their shots from the floor. The Mavericks also owned the glass, outrebounding the Indians, 20-6, but 10 first-half Maverick turnovers kept Louisiana-Monroe in the game.
The Mavericks will be back in action Thursday when they travel to take on conference-leading Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. at Prather Coliseum. The Demons defeated Texas-Arlington earlier this season in Arlington, 79-67.
