Men's Basketball

Anthony Vereen scored nine straight points for the Mavericks in the second half.

UT ARLINGTON SUFFERS FIRST LOSS OF THE SEASON AT EASTERN WASHINGTON

Senior Anthony Vereen finished with a team-high 19 points and 12 rebounds for his first double-double this season.

Nov. 22, 2008

CHENEY, Wash. - A three-point shot at the buzzer by sophomore Jeremy Smith rimmed out at as Eastern Washington defeated UT Arlington 73-70, on Saturday night in front of 1,704 fans at Reese Court. Despite Maverick senior Anthony Vereen's 19 points and 12 rebounds, the Eagles were able to win their home-opener in large part to a game-high 28 points from junior guard Benny Valentine. The game went back and forth with a total of 18 lead changes and 12 ties throughout the 40-minute contest.

"I thought our guys played hard," third-year UT Arlington head coach Scott Cross said. "I was pleased that we came out and battled. We didn't hit as many shots from the outside as we typically do, but we knew coming into this that there would be days when it would be hard to have shots fall, and I think tonight was one of those."

The Mavericks (2-1) finished the game shooting 5-of-22 from long range (23 percent), but were kept in the game until the end with a 77 percent shooting effort (17-of-22) from the charity stripe.

With the score tied at 69 and 1:51 remaining to play, Valentine made a three-pointer to give the Eagles (2-1) the lead for good. UT Arlington managed to pull within two points with nine seconds remaining on a 3-pointer from junior Brandon Long.

"Unfortunately, Eastern Washington had a good shooting performance, and I think that was the difference in the game," Cross said. "We didn't execute down the stretch, and they did, and I think that is why they came out on top."

After falling behind early, UT Arlington went on a 13-4 run, which ended with an ally-op from Marquez Haynes at the 8:40 mark to give the Mavericks a 20-15 lead.

The Eagles charged back with two straight 3-pointers and consecutive buckets in the paint to finish a 12-2 run, grabbing a 27-22 lead at the 3:54 mark.

UT Arlington finished the first half on an 11-3 run to regain the lead, 33-30, at halftime. Vereen scored a basket in the lane, Guignard hit a deep 3-pointer and Tommy Moffitt hit a fade-away jumper to put the Mavs back in the lead with just over two minutes before halftime.

Eastern Washington senior guard Milan Stanojevic led all players at halftime while scoring half of the Eagles points (15 points). The Mavericks had seven players in the scoring column at the break, with Guignard and Moffitt each leading the way with eight points apiece.

UT Arlington tallied a 50 percent (13-of-26) shooting effort from the floor in the opening period and also out-rebounded Eastern Washington, 16-13.

The Mavericks started the second half shooting only 3-of-12 (25 percent) while committing two turnovers which led to a 10-2 run for Eastern Washington. The Eagles took the lead scoring eight points in the paint with two free throws.

Haynes sparked the Mavericks with an old-fashioned 3-point-play and with a dunk off a missed shot to put the Mavs back in the lead 47-43.

"I just wanted to come out tonight and not let my team down," Haynes said. "Tonight is just part of the learning process, it is early in the season and we are going to come out on Tuesday night and improve offensively and defensively."

After Moffitt put the Mavericks in the lead by one, 49-48, with a lay-in, Eastern Washington went on a 9-2 run with a three-pointer and with six points in the paint to force a UT Arlington timeout at the 9:11 mark with the Eagles leading 57-51.

Vereen brought the Mavericks back in the game single handedly scoring nine straight points for UT Arlington to give the Mavericks a 60-59 lead with 5:52 remaining. Vereen scored seven points at the free throw line and two points on a basket in the lane before finishing the three-point-play during his nine straight points.

"As a senior, I try to take over in key situations," Vereen said. "We were down by two points and I tried to establish myself in the post and get our guys going. We just have to execute. I think we played hard, we just didn't execute down the stretch."

Vereen tallied his first double-double of the season while leading the Mavs in scoring (19 points) and rebounding (12 boards). Vereen shot 6-of-7 from the field and was perfect at the line hitting 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. Vereen's effort helped the Mavericks out-rebound the Eagles 38-28.

Long's 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining gave him his third straight double-figure scoring game, finishing with 10 points with two assists and one steal. Haynes collected 15 points with five rebounds and two assists.

Moffitt recorded 12 points and had nine rebounds on 6-of-11 shooting from the field.

Stanojevic finished with 17 points and 6-foot-9 post Brandon Moore finished with a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

UT Arlington will play its final home game during the non-conference schedule on Tuesday, Nov. 28 hosting UT Tyler for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Texas Hall.