Men's Basketball
Sophomore Jermaine Griffin |
GRIFFIN HAS HUGE NIGHT IN MAVERICKS' 79-65 VICTORY OVER UT-PERMIAN BASIN
Dec. 1, 2005
ARLINGTON, Texas - Sophomore Jermaine Griffin had monster night with 23 points and 22 rebounds to lead Texas-Arlington past UT-Permian Basin, 79-65, Thursday evening at Texas Hall.
Griffin was 9-of-15 from the floor and eight of his 22 rebounds came on the offensive end of the floor. The 22 rebounds were the fourth most in school history, with Albert Culton holding the school record with 24 rebounds in 1981.
In the second half, the UT-Permian Basin got as close as five points, but Texas-Arlington made 16 second-half free throws, including eight straight in the final minute of the game to help the Mavericks to their third straight victory.
"UTPB is a good ball club," UTA head coach Eddie McCarter said. "They beat Southland Conference member Texas State last week and played hard against us tonight. We made the plays we had to in order to win."
Senior Steven Thomas posted 17 points and eight rebounds and senior Jarrett Howell added 13 points and seven assists.
Nedrie Simmons and Marlo Saunders led the Falcons with 15 points each. Simmons also had a game-high eight assists. Marcus Saunders finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
"We just have to learn how to put teams away," UTA senior guard Brady Dawkins said. "We have to be able to do that come conference-play."
The Mavericks opened the game on a 17-4 run, sparked by two treys from Howell. Thomas added four points and four rebounds during the run that gave Texas-Arlington a 13-point lead with 14:51 remaining in the first half.
UT-Permian Basin fought back, using an 8-2 run over the next three minutes to cut the lead to19-12, with 11:07 left on the clock before the break. Marlo Saunders led the charge with four points and Simmons canned a trey during the stretch.
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Texas-Arlington fended off the Falcons with a 15-5 run, capped off by an emphatic dunk by Griffin at the 4:40 mark of the first half to increase the lead to 34-17. The 6-9 forward from Houston, Texas had nine points during the run.
The Falcons closed the gap down the stretch in the first half, ending on a 11-1 run in the final four minutes. Simmons led the way with two layups.
At the break, Griffin already had a double-double with a game-high 11 points and 10 rebounds. Both Simmons and Marlo Saunders scored seven points in the first half.
Texas-Arlington will be back in action Saturday when it travels to take on #2-ranked Texas. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. The game will be televised statewide on Fox Sports Southwest.
