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Sunday, February 4, 2001

Hot-shooting Broncs defeat Islanders men
Wainright hits school-record 7 threes, but UT-Pan American grabs 95-86 win
From staff and correspondent reports
EDINBURG - Brian Merriweather scored a game-high 27 points to pace UT-Pan American in a 95-86 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday evening at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
   The senior was 10-of-17 from the field, including drilling five three-pointers to help the Broncs break the game wide open in the second half. Mire Chatman added 21 points in a reserve role, while John Braxton and Kyle Sanders chipped in 17 and 14 points respectively.
   Leading 50-48 with 12:56 left, the Broncs took advantage of a strong shooting effort and numerous Islanders turnovers to build their lead to 71-55 with a 21-7 run. UTPA converted 19 of 29 (.655) shots from the floor and forced 15 A&M-CC miscues in the final 20 minutes of action.
   Pan Am shot .603 from the floor for the game, the second-best shooting effort against the Islanders this season. The Broncs also were impressive from beyond the three-point arc, making 10 of 18 attempts. Both percentages are season highs against the Islanders.
   "We got off to a strong start and then became very complacent," Islanders head coach Ronnie Arrow said "We did some good things, but I'm not sure how many of the players showed up ready to play.
   "We aren't playing defense to win - we are having to rely heavily on our offense. I'm very disappointed in our effort. There is no excuse for having 21 turnovers at this stage of the season. That cost us tonight."
   It was nip and tuck for much of the first half. A&M-Corpus Christi jumped out to a quick 8-3 lead in the first 1:30 of the game. However, that turned out to be the largest lead of the game for Islanders.
   After Brian Evans padded A&M-CC's lead to 41-37 with two free throws, Merriweather drilled a long three pointer at the buzzer to give the Broncs momentum heading into the second half.
   The loss overshadowed the performance of Islander guard Armond Wainright. The junior connected for seven of A&M-Corpus Christi's 10 three-pointers en route to a career-high 25 points. His seven three-pointers established a new school record, breaking Lee Denmon's former mark of six set on three previous occasions earlier this year. Wainright, a native of Oakland, Calif., went 9-of-16 from the floor in 27 minutes of action.
   For the second time in three games, A&M-CC's Michael Hicks saw himself in early foul trouble. The junior, who is the nation's second-leading scorer at 26.1 points, was whistled for his third foul with 4:43 remaining in the first, sending him to the bench for the rest of the first half. Still, Hicks ended the game with 21 points and hauled down a team-high six rebounds in only 28 minutes of action.
   The Islanders will look to rebound from the loss and return to the .500 mark, Monday evening as they travel to face Cleveland State in a "revenge" game. The Vikings handed A&M-Corpus Christi an 81-77 setback in the finals of the Koch Petroleum Islander Invitational on Dec. 29 in Corpus Christi.
   The game will be aired over Fox Sports Ohio. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. eastern.

   UT-PAN AMERICAN 95, A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI 86
   A&M-CC: Hicks 9-17 3-4 21, Kirkaldy 1-6 0-0 2, Diene 0-0 0-0 0, Evans 3-8, 3-4 9, Atsheba 0-1 2-2 2, Denmon 2-9 2-4 7, Drasutis 5-9 1-2 13, Hamilton 1-2 0-0 2, Wainright 9-16 0-0 25, Shultz 2-2 1-2 5, Hemsley 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS - 32-71 12-18 86.
   UT-PAN AMERICAN: Braxton 6-10 3-4 17, Sanders 6-6 2-4 14, Hill 3-7 1-2 7, Curtis 2-3 2-3 6, Merriweather 10-17 2-2 27, Tate 0-0 0-0 0, Hall 0-0 1-2 1, Chatman 7-14 4-5 21, Quinn 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS - 35-58 15-22 95.
   Halftime: A&M-CC 41, UTPA 40. Three-point goals: A&M-CC 10-28 (Wainright 7-12, Drasutis 2-4, Denmon 1-7, Hicks 0-2, Evans 0-1, Atsheba 0-1, Hamilton 0-1), UTPA 10-18 (Merriweather 5-8, Chatman 3-5, Braxton 2-4, Curtis 0-1). Rebounds: A&M-CC 37 (Hicks 6), UTPA 33 (Hill 8). Assists: A&M-CC 17 (Evans 8), UTPA 22 (Curtis 8). Fouled out: A&M-CC Kirkaldy. Technical fouls: None. A: 3,041.

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