Feb. 21, 2009
ARLINGTON, Tx. - At the end of the first half Saturday afternoon at Texas Hall, the UTA men's basketball team found themselves in a 31-31 tie with Central Arkansas. At the end of the game, it was all Mavericks as they defeated the Bears 87-73 to win their fifth consecutive game.
The Mavericks answered the halftime tie with an 18-2 run over the first seven minutes of the second half as they cruised to the victory. During that time, the Mavs held the Bears to just one field goal and forced UCA into turnovers and off balanced shots.
"We picked the defense up in the second half," UTA head coach Scott Cross said. "We played great defense in the first eight to 10 minutes of the second half and that was the difference in the game."
Roge'r Guignard led four UTA players in double figures with 18 points and he added five rebounds and a team-high four assists.
"I worked on my shot today before the game with Coach (Reggie) Brown," he said after he made 7-of-12 field goals. "I wanted to come out shooting and that is what I did. We had fun out there today."
LaMarcus Reed started the game in place of Brandon Long who missed today's game due to a death in the family. He responded by scoring a career-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and making all four of his free throws.
"LaMarcus has played well for us on the defensive end the last few weeks," Cross said. "But without Brandon here today we needed to have someone step up offensively and he did just that for us."
Reed has been getting more minutes as of late and Saturday's game was the second time this week he has set a new career-high in points.
"I am starting to feel more comfortable out there," he said. "I'm just trying to go out there and focus on the things that I can do to help the team."
Tommy Moffitt and Marquez Haynes each added 14 points and 12 of the 13 players scored at least two points. Moffitt led the team with nine rebounds while Haynes had eight.
After the quick start to the second half, the Mavs increased the lead to as many as 24 later in the half. UTA finished the game shooting a season best 57.9% from the field and shot 63% in the second half.
Marcus Pillow led the Bears with 30 points and made a school record nine 3-pointers.
UTA improved to 15-10 overall and 8-4 in the Southland Conference as the win was their season-high fifth in a row. Central Arkansas drops to 9-16 overall and 2-10 in the conference.
The Mavericks return to action Wednesday, Feb. 25 at Lamar.
