ARLINGTON – A high-intensity affair between old Southland Conference rivals featured a frenetic closing minute with back-and-forth action, but ultimately it was Stephen F. Austin converting down the stretch to claim a narrow 66-62 win over UT Arlington in the Mavericks' Western Athletic Conference home opener Saturday afternoon.
 
UTA held a 60-59 lead with 1:30 remaining, but SFA's Latrell Jossell hit a 3-pointer just inside of 90 seconds remaining to put the Lumberjacks up 62-60. On the next UTA possession, SFA turned the Mavs over, but missed a layup at the other end. Back the other direction, UTA's Kyron Gibson missed a 3-pointer, leading to a breakaway opportunity for the 'Jacks, but Shemar Wilson chased down Sadaidriene Hall and blocked his dunk attempt.
 
That occurred with just over 30 seconds remaining, and UTA pushed the ball ahead trying for the game-tying bucket. But Gibson's fastbreak pass alley-oop attempt to Aaron Cash was intercepted and UTA had to foul with 16 ticks left.
 
Jossell made both from the charity stripe to extend the lead to 64-60, and Wilson converted a putback at the rim with three seconds left to make it 64-62. As UTA was trying to foul, SFA pushed the ball across the timeline and made a layup just before the final horn sounded to provide the final 66-62 margin.
 
Wilson led UTA with his fourth double-double of the year as he delivered game highs of 16 points and 13 rebounds, with the 16 points equaling a season high established twice previously. Kyron Gibson added 14 points for the Mavs and also passed out a team-best and season-high five assists.
 
Facing its second-straight opponent to open WAC play that ranked in the top 5 nationally in turnovers forced, UTA took care of the ball against an SFA side that on average turns opponents over 20 times per game as the Mavs committed just 11 giveaways.


BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• With the loss, UTA drops to 5-10 overall and 0-2 in the WAC, while SFA improves to 10-5 and 2-0.
• Pedro Castro scored six 1st-half points on his way to eight for the game – his first points since scoring 11 against Howard Payne on Nov. 28. He added five rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench for UTA.
• The Mavs had 15 offensive rebounds – tied for their most against a Division-I opponent this year. Wilson led the charge with eight to tie a season best on that end.
• Overall, UTA out-boarded SFA, 38-33, and had a 17-10 advantage in second-chance points.
• Marion Humphrey notched eight points and had four assists for UTA.
• Chendall Weaver (six), Brandon Walker (four), Dario Domingos (four) and Taj Anderson (two) rounded out the UTA scoring.
• UTA shot 40 percent (23-57) from the floor while SFA connected at a 43-percent clip (24-56). The Mavs went just 2-17 (12 percent) from 3-point range.
• Jossell led SFA with 12 points, while Derrick Tezeno (11) and Nigel Hawkins (10) rounded out the 'Jacks double-figure scorers.
• UTA utilized the same starting lineup as Thursday at Tarleton to open WAC play: Humphrey, Gibson, Weaver, Walker and Wilson.

QUOTABLE
"I'm proud of our team and our grit and effort for 40 minutes. We put ourselves in position to win the game – like we have so many times this year – but just didn't make the right plays to come out on top. We defended well, we got to the free throw line more (19 compared with 16) and we out-rebounded them, but we just don't make shots. I trust that our guys will start making those, and if we continue to play with that type of effort I like our chances."
– UTA Head Coach Greg Young
 

GAME FLOW
UTA jumped out to a 5-0 start and built the lead to seven, 13-6, just more than seven minutes in following a Gibson 3-pointer from the top of the arc to force SFA head coach Kyle Keller to burn his second timeout at the 12:38 mark.
 
Out of that, the Lumberjacks responded and eventually tied the game for the first time at 18-all, and after UTA had gone back in front, 25-22, SFA closed the half on an 8-2 run – with Gibson hitting a floater for the Mavs just before time expired – to take a 30-27 lead into the halftime break.
 
UTA tied the contest back up just a few minutes into the 2nd half at 34-34 following a heads-up turnaround by Wilson as the shot clock was close to exhausting, and that set the tone for the rest of the period as neither team led by more than six.
 
That six-point edge was by SFA, 53-47, at the midway point, but UTA erased that courtesy of a 10-1 run over three minutes and took a 57-54 lead on a Gibson triple with 6:30 remaining.
 
But SFA responded, and the contest was knotted up at 59-all with under three minutes left. After Wilson made one free throw to put UTA in front by one, the frenetic closing 90 seconds ensued.
 
THIS AND THAT

• This was the first meeting between the two sides since UTA departed the Southland Conference at the end of the 2011-12 season. SFA was UTA's second-ever opponent in its inaugural 1959-60 season, and was the first team to ever beat the Mavs. UTA now leads the all-time series, 31-30.
• The Lumberjacks were picked to finish 3rd in the WAC Preseason Poll this year after winning the conference regular-season title in 2021-22 and playing in the CBI.
• UTA committed 17turnovers at Tarleton on Thursday; the Texans rank 4th nationally (20.3) in turnovers forced per game.

NEXT UP
UTA will remain at home for another pair of WAC contests next week, beginning with a formidable foe in Utah Valley on Thursday, Jan. 5, at 7 p.m. UVU is 10-4 overall entering its second WAC game on Saturday and has already won at BYU and Oregon this year, in addition to knocking off Sam Houston – ranked #20 in the NET – in the conference opener on Thursday by 16 points.
 
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