The UTPB men’s basketball team’s Lone Star Conference showdown against Angelo State was highly contested from the opening tip.
A midrange jump shot from Angelo State’s Tyrell Carroll went in with two seconds left in regulation and that was enough to give the Rams an 80-78 victory over the Falcons Thursday at the Falcon Dome.
UTPB head coach Kyle Tolin said he saw his team play with more energy in the second half than it did in the first.
That ultimately helped decide who came away with the victory.
“There was no energy all day long today,” Tolin said. “In shootaround there was no energy, before the game there was no energy and I didn’t think there was any energy in the first half.
“The second half we had more energy. We’re not good enough to not play both halves and we only played one half, unfortunately.”
Angelo State got off to quick start and built up an 11-3 lead before the Falcons had a response in the game’s opening minutes.
UTPB managed to cut the Rams’ lead to one point with 9:25 left before the halftime break, but couldn’t build on the momentum swing and Angelo State took a 37-29 lead into the intermission.
The Falcons outscored Angelo State by six points in the second half and got solid performances from Max Warren, Jordan Horn, DaJuan Jones and Lemmie Howard.
Two missed shots in the game’s final minute would prove costly for UTPB, as they would given the Falcons the opportunity move in front instead of being tied at 78-78 with 33 seconds remaining in the game.
Jones said the Falcons need to come out of the gates with more intensity to avoid being put in tough spots.
“We started slow,” Jones said. “We just got to be way better from the start so we don’t end up in the position that we were just in.”
UTPB (9-4 overall, 1-1 LSC) saw its recent five-game winning streak come to a close and ended the day tied for third in the conference standings with West Texas A&M and Angelo State after the loss.
“The feeling is not any good, we’ve got to correct it,” Tolin said. “We’ve got to come in here tomorrow and start correcting mistakes, we’ll work hard and try to get them ready to go here for the next several games.”
The Falcons are currently scheduled to face Dallas Baptist at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at the Falcon Dome.
>> Follow Chris Amaya on Twitter at @OA_CAmaya
Angelo State 80, UTPB 78
Angelo State (10-3, 1-1)
Paul Williams 5-7 2-2 15, Tyrell Carroll 6-11 2-2 14, Dante Moses 5-13 3-4 14, Fredelin De La Cruz 3-4 5-6 11, Devaughn Thomas 2-8 6-7 10, Lathaniel Bastian 3-7 3-6 9, Kelyn Pennie 3-9 0-0 7, BJ Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Salisu Yahaya 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-59 21-27 80.
UTPB (9-4, 1-1)
Max Warren 8-8 1-1 17, Jordan Horn 6-14 2-2 16, DaJuan Jones 6-10 3-3 15, Lemmie Howard 5-5 1-4 11, Miles Daniels 2-7 2-3 7, Kendal Frey 3-5 0-0 7, Zavon Godwin 1-2 0-0 3, Alvarez Powell 1-1 0-0 2, Keyon Craddock 0-1 0-0 0, Quinntez Grimes 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 32-56 9-13 78.
Halftime — Angelo State 37, UTPB 29. 3-Point goals — Angelo State 5-17 (Williams 3-5, Carroll 0-1, Moses 1-3, Thomas 0-4, Pennie 1-4), UTPB 5-17 (Horn 2-8, Daniels 1-5, Frey 1-2, Godwin 1-1, Grimes 0-1). Total fouls — Angelo State 16, UTPB 22. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None. Rebounds — Angelo State 36 (Thomas 9), UTPB 24 (Horn 4, Frey 4). Assists — Angelo State 8 (Thomas 3), UTPB 10 (Jones 8).
