Feb. 16, 2011

Final Stats

Arlington, Tex. - - UTA - SFA Photo Gallery

Sometimes it is just better to be lucky than good.

The UT Arlington men's basketball team erased a 15-point second half deficit and survived two missed point blank shots as the buzzer sounded to defeat Stephen F. Austin 66-65 in overtime Wednesday night.

Bo Ingram led UT Arlington with 15 points including scoring the last five in overtime.

The Mavericks trailed 64-61 with 1:50 to play in the extra period before Ingram converted a three-point play and then made a 12-foot jumper to put the Mavericks ahead 66-64.

Then the excitement began.

Stephen F. Austin's (15-8, 6-5 Southland) Eddie Williams missed a jumper and Dion Prewster grabbed the offensive rebound. He was fouled by Bryant Smith and then made one of two with 14.9 seconds to play.

UTA's Cameron Catlett was fouled but then missed both free throws with 13.5 second to go to give SFA one last chance.

Prewster missed a short five-foot jumper that Jordan Glynn grabbed. He was able to get a shot off but the four-footer bounced out and the Mavericks had snapped their two-game losing streak.

"He (Bo) gets the guys going," UTA head coach Scott Cross said. "When he gets in a rhythm offensively it just kind of makes our offense just so much more fluid. We try and get him looks and once we get him a good wide open look and he hits one you know good things are going to start to happen."

"Once he got going, it just kind of spread throughout the whole team and other guys started stepping up and hitting shots."

The junior, who came off the bench for the first time this conference season knew his team was going to continue to fight even though they fell behind.

"We didn't want to quit tonight and we didn't," Ingram said. "When we play hard it helps our confidence and that is what happened in the second half and overtime. We just stayed focused and that really helped us tonight."

UT Arlington could consider themselves lucky to even be in overtime as they trailed at one point in the second half by 15.

After falling behind 42-27 the Mavericks went on a 26-13 run to make it a ballgame.

During that run there was a key play that helped UTA continue its momentum.

After the Mavericks cut the lead to 45-33, the Lumberjacks broke the Mavs full court pressure and Jereal Scott found himself all alone on his way to an easy, uncontested slam dunk.

He took off a little too soon and the ball ended up hitting the bottom of the rim turning an easy two points into an UTA opportunity, which they cashed in 10 seconds later to cut the lead to 10.

UTA never led in the second half and did not tie the game until there was 17 seconds remaining in regulation when Smith drained a three-pointer from the far right corner to tie the game at 59.

Williams had his first chance to win the game at the end of the second half as he took an inbounds pass in the backcourt and drove through the Mavericks defense but his shot was blocked by Brandon Edwards to send the game to extra time.

UTA found itself in another hole due to poor shooting as has happened in recent games.

The Mavs shot just 31% in the first half and started the second half making just two of its first 13 field goals. However as the game heated up, so did the shooting.

UTA finished the game making six of its last eight field goal attempts including 2-of-3 from 3-point range.

Each team shot 43.3% in the game but UT Arlington made 3-of-5 field goals in overtime while SFA was just 1-of-7. SFA outrebounded the Mavericks 44-34.

"I felt we were going to win the game once we got into overtime because I knew we had the momentum," Cross said. "It kind of snowballs. Once someone hits a shot then everybody starts hitting shots."

The Mavericks defense also stepped up late in the second half and in overtime. With just under three minutes to play in regulation, SFA was shooting 48% for the game. From that point they made just two of their last 10 field goals.

Ingram was only one of only two Mavericks to be in double figures as Shaquille White-Miller added 10 points and a team-high five assists.

Scott led SFA with 19 points before fouling out right before the end of regulation. Williams finished the game with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

The Mavericks now travel to Southeastern Louisiana Saturday for a 3 p.m. game. It can be heard on KVCE 1160 AM or on kvceradio.com.