Feb. 22, 2007
Box Score
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - UT Arlington Head Coach Scott Cross had to shuffle his lineup to salvage the season. He will have to do it again to salvage a shot at the upcoming SLC Postseason Tournament after the Mavs collapsed in the final minutes of a 92-78 setback to Sam Houston State Thursday night.
Jermaine Griffin was whistled for two technical fouls in the final seconds of the game after a confrontation with a Sam Houston State player. Starters Rodrick Epps and Cardell Hunter went on to the court during the fracas and all three were ejected from the game and will serve a one-game suspension on Saturday when the Mavs host Stephen F. Austin.
Griffin led the Mavs' scoring with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Hunter had a career-high 12 points, Epps added 11 and Brandon Long canned 10. Sam Houston was led Ryan Bright's 23 points. C.J. Haldey had 16, James Barrett scored 13 and Shamir McDaniel added 13.
For the second straight game, the opposition was near perfect at the free-throw line. Sam Houston made 20 of its first 21 free throws and finished the game 36-of-45. The Bearkats needed all of those freebies as they played most of the second half without starters Jejuan Plair and Aaron Wade who sat with four fouls by the 15-minute mark of the second half.
The final score was not indicative of the game. The Mavs battled back from a 15-point deficit in the second half to cut the lead to 72-69 with 4:51 left in the game after a basket by Griffin.
From then on the Bearkats came up with key rebounds and held the Mavs to one field goal to pull away for the win and move into a tie for first-place in the West Division after Texas A&M-Corpus Christi dropped a 78-77 overtime decision to Lamar.
UT Arlington withstood runs of 11-0 and 9-0 in the first half by Sam Houston State to trail, 40-37. Hunter set a career high in points by halftime to lead the Mavs with 12 and the Mavs went to the free-throw line 23 times (16 of 23).
UTA jumped out to a 5-1 lead after a Guignard jumper, but Sam Houston roared back with a 12-0 run to lead 12-5 after a three-point play by Ryan Bright. The Mavs cut the leads to 17-15 after a basket by Hunter, but Sam Houston stretched the lead out to 26-17 after a 9-0 run capped off by a pair of free throws by Jejuan Plair with 8:35 left in the half.
But UTA clawed themselves back into the game and tied the game at 37-37 after Hunter converted a 3-point play and then followed with a free throw in the final 1:06 of the half.
UTA hosts Stephen F. Austin Saturday at 4 p.m.
