ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington men's basketball (11-11, 4-4 WAC) overcame a five-point deficit with under three minutes to go to surge past Utah Tech (6-16, 2-5 WAC) on Saturday afternoon at the College Park Center. It marked UTA's fourth consecutive win, and the third straight one-possession victory.
 
"I want to say I'm happy with my guys," head coach KT Turner said following the win. "because we had a little adversity with guys being sick, and we fought through that. These two games we won this week were really hard and I'm proud of my guys for that. This game, I felt like we didn't come out the way we wanted to once again, but we kept fighting and kept fighting. The biggest thing is they had 27 second-chance points and we can't have that, we've got to do a lot better job of rebounding the basketball because when we do that, we can run, which helps us a lot. This time of year, you take a win any way you can and we pulled it out and figured out a way to win. That's a big part of it, just figuring out how to win games this time of year."
 
Five Mavericks scored in double figures, and UTA was paced by guards Jaden Wells (15 points on 5-of-8 from distance), Brody Robinson (15 points and seven assists), Darius Burford (14 points, three rebounds and three assists) and forward/center Lance Ware (10 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks), who registered his seventh double-double and fourth in the past five games.
 
It was a slow start for the Mavs, who shot just 38.5% from the field in the opening half (10-for-26). After a Robinson three tied things at 23, it was guard Brandyn Talbot, who scored eight of his 10 points in the first half off the bench, who sunk three free throws to give UTA a short-lived 28-26 advantage. Utah Tech then went on a mini 6-0 run and eventually took a 32-30 lead into the break.
 
Ware scored eight of his 10 points in the second half, and got himself going early in the second frame with a nice finish inside to put the Mavs on top, 35-34. After another Robinson triple, which was set up by Ware, the big man had a highlight play on both ends with a steal and one-man fast break that he finished with a two-hand slam to give UTA a 40-36 advantage.
 
Wells capped off a 5-for-7 stretch from the field for the Mavericks with a corner triple, his fourth of the afternoon to give the Mavs their largest lead of the game, 47-38. Utah Tech battled back shortly thereafter however with a 9-1 run to take a 53-51 advantage inside of 10 minutes to play. The Trailblazers stretched their lead to 61-56 on a Hakim Byrd three-pointer with 6:33 to go. Byrd finished with 20 for Utah Tech.
 
The Mavs had an exciting sequence when Ware recorded one of his three blocks, and that turned into a layup from Robinson, who fought through traffic for the finish to cut the lead to 61-60. It was tied moments later on a Raysean Seamster free throw with 4:22 on the clock.
 
The Trailblazers again stretched out a five-point lead after Noa Gonsalves buried a step-back triple to put Utah Tech in front 66-61 with 3:35 to go. Gonsalves scored a game-high 25 points Saturday, a point better than his output in the meeting between the two on Jan. 9, a Utah Tech win.
 
UTA then outscored the visitors 13-5 to close the game out. Robinson finished through contact for tough layup, then hit two clutch free throws to put the Mavs up 67-66. Robinson then set up Wells in the corner when he whipped a cross court pass to the Hurst native, who buried his fifth triple of the day to put the Mavs in front 70-66.
 
Despite a Gonsalves three-point play, Ware knocked down a free throw to get it to 73-71 with 3.1 to play, and the UTA defense held strong, not allowing a shot as the buzzer sounded. The Mavs are now 7-2 at home this season, and 19-5 under Turner.

UTA is now set to travel to league-leaders, Utah Valley (15-6, 7-0 WAC) on Thursday, Feb. 6, in Orem, Utah. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and on the radio via the Varsity App, 102.5 FM and KTNO 620 AM with the Voice of the Mavs, Josh Sours. Utah Valley travels to Grand Canyon later tonight at 7 p.m. CT.


   
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