OGDEN, Utah – UT Arlington men's basketball (5-2) picked up its fourth win in its last five, knocking off Weber State (2-4) 74-73 in the final game of the Junction City Jam on Saturday night from Dee Events Center. Senior guard Marcell McCreary scored a game-high 20 points, including the final two at the free throw line with 5.8 seconds to play.

"Yeah, I'm super excited," head coach KT Turner said following the win. "I'm really happy for these guys - they put the work in, they followed the gameplan and we won a tough game on the road, so that's a great sign. Marcell's been playing really well for us and he's been leading us. I knew he was going to knock those free throws down - he puts the work in, he's confident and he's been in these situations before. I've been telling these guys, it's a whole team and it's going to be different guys every night. I feel like we don't have a bad player on the team and it's always going to be a team effort and that locker room helped us win this game today."
 
UTA opened the game on a 9-2 run and finished the half on another 10-0 spurt, holding the Wildcats scoreless for the final 5:21 of the first period to take a 33-27 lead into the locker room. McCreary (4-of-5 in the first half) opened the scoring for the Mavs with a pair of threes and scored 14 of his 20 points in the opening stanza.
 
The Mavericks led 15-9 midway through the half when the hosts went on a run of their own, 13-4 to take a 23-19 lead. The Mavs then tied things up at 27 when senior forward Raysean Seamster took advantage of a Wildcat turnover and scored in transition. UTA closed the half scoring 14 of the final 18 points, and punctuated their strong close to the half when senior guard Marcus Rigsby, Jr. threaded the needle on a backdoor cut from Seamster, who finished with a reverse layup to push the halftime lead to six. Seamster had seven of his 15 points in the first half for the Mavericks.
 
Weber State came out of the break and utilized a 9-0 run to take a 40-38 lead after the Mavs had just gone up seven. The teams then went back-and-forth the rest of the way in this seesaw affair. There were 10 lead changes, including a huge and one with 4:44 to go on top 63-61 for freshman guard Jordan Lowery, who scored 10 points in 13 minutes off the bench.
 
With the game tied at 63, it was another freshman, this time guard Jayden Smoot who knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Mavs on top 66-63.
 
The Mavs seized the lead for good after forcing a big turnover defensively with 1:19 to go and trailing 69-68. McCreary then scored on a putback from his own miss to give the Mavericks the edge. It was then four straight free throws from UTA, as sophomore guard Cash Chavis buried a pair on a one-and-one with 25.4 seconds to play, and the last two from McCreary with 5.8 to play.

"I heard the coaches and they called the play for me," McCreary said of the final minute following the win. "I just had to make something happen. I missed the first shot, was a little shaky, but I appreciate Cam [Jackson], I think Cam tipped it, I got it and put it back, so thank God. [On those free throws] I'm just trying to get the win, so that's a big moment. With this team, we're supposed to shoot 500 free throws every week - I get mine in. It's a little harder being in season, but it's just a free throw at the end of the day, that's what coach told me before I shot them, so that's kind of the mindset I went into it with."
 
Weber State junior guard Tijan Saine hit a jumper on the run with just 0.6 seconds to go, but his foot was on the line, and after review, the call was confirmed, keeping the score at 74-73 in favor of the visiting Mavs. After a successful inbound, McCreary tossed the ball in the air as time expired, and the Mavs finished their three game road trip with a pair of victories and are now 5-2 on the young season.

"It was a good team performance," McCreary continued. "I feel like up and down, I see a couple of the guys - freshman Jayden Smoot with 20 minutes off the bench, I thought that was a good 20 minutes, Miles Goodman a solid 12 minutes. I feel like we've been trying to build this thing to play together, play together, play together and everyone has their role. Be perfect in your role and once we get that down? We can beat anybody."
 
The Mavericks placed a pair on the Junction City Jam's All-Tournament Team, in McCreary (17.0 ppg and 5.5 rpg) and Seamster (15.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg). Falling just short was sophomore forward/center Cameron Jackson, who averaged 11.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 1.0 bpg. He finished with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting on Saturday night for the Mavs in the win.
 
Junction City Jam All-Tournament Team
Dovydas Butka, F, Campbell
DJ Smith, G, Campbell
Marcell McCreary, G, UT Arlington
Raysean Seamster, F, UT Arlington
Tijan Saine Jr., G, Weber State
Jace Whiting, G, Weber State
 
UTA returns home to Arlington after Thanksgiving to host Stephen F. Austin (5-1) on Saturday, Nov. 29, at 2 p.m. CT from the College Park Center. Tickets are available here, and fans can take advantage of the Holiday Hoops sale here. For those unable to make it, the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, and fans can listen live on the Varsity Network App with the Voice of the Mavs, Josh Sours.
   
FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, follow the men's basketball program on X (formerly Twitter) (@UTAMavsMBB), Instagram (@UTAMavsMBB) and Facebook (/UTAMavsMBB).