ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington men's basketball (2-1) returned to the win column Monday night at home against Arlington Baptist, 117-61 from the College Park Center. Senior forward Raysean Seamster led five Mavs in double figures, with 19. Seamster also had a career-best six steals, three boards, two blocks and two assists in the win.
 
The Mavs pushed the pace all night en route to its highest scoring output since the Mavs also tallied 117 in a win over Howard Payne on Dec. 22, 2020 at the CPC.
 
"It was a quick turnaround for these guys and I thought they did a really good job of turning around and preparing for these guys really quickly," head coach KT Turner said following the win. "I felt like we took care of business. This was a team that we had to jump out on early. To start the second half, I thought we really defended the best we did the whole game and that's what we were focusing on – to keep defending, our transition defense, to keep on blocking out and those kinds of things. I thought we took good shots today, I thought we took really good shots and I was pleased with the win today."
 
In addition to Seamster's strong performance, sophomore guard Cash Chavis finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting with eight assists, eight rebounds and a pair of steals. Senior guard Marcell McCreary added 14, also on 6-of-9 shooting to go along with five assists. Sophomore guard Tyran Mason finished with 13 points, eight boards and four assists, while Bahsil Laster, who made his first career start, tallied 11 points and four assists in the win.
 
The Mavericks raced out to a 25-point lead at the break, 56-31, thanks to some hot shooting, as UTA opened hitting 8-of-10 from the field and finished the half at 54.8% (23-of-42). Five Mavs scored at least six points in the opening half, including a trio with nine each in Seamster, Chavis and guard Tyran Mason. UTA scored 36 of its 56 first half points in the paint and cashed in on 13 Patriot turnovers to the tune of 22 points.
 
Seamster scored eight quick points, while Mason tallied seven in the first eight minutes, while freshman guard Jayden Smoot knocked down a pair of triples off the bench. Sophomore big man Miles Goodman had a nice sequence where he scored on back-to-back possessions on a putback and finished an alley-oop from senior guard Marcell McCreary to stretch the lead to 35-15.
 
It was a 21-point advantage after Chavis found sophomore Cameron Jackson for a highlight-worthy transition alley-oop to push the advantage to 46-25. Back-to-back corner pocket triples from guard Marcus Rigsby, Jr. stretched the lead to 52-25, giving the Troy transfer six of his eight first half points. Those two three-pointers helped the Mavs to a 5-for-11 half from beyond the arc.
 
Seamster had a pair of highlight dunks that capped off a pair of steals that helped him to a new season high in scoring. His second slam pushed the Mavs' advantage to 41 midway through the second half.
 
Nine Mavericks scored at least eight points, and the team shot a season-best 57.1% from the field, including 40.5% from distance (10-for-25). The team recorded 30 assists, the most by a Turner-led team in his two-plus seasons at the helm. UTA also pulled down 58 rebounds and outrebounded the visiting Patriots by a margin of 36. Entering play, the Mavs ranked 23^rd nationally in rebound margin at +18.
 
UTA remains in Arlington during Homecoming Week, as the Mavs welcome Missouri State to the CPC on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 5 p.m. CT. Tickets for the Homecoming Game are available here. Fans can also watch live on ESPN+, and listen live on the Varsity Network App with the Voice of the Mavs, Josh Sours.


   
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