Mustangs see game slip away, 60-55 (Photo by Nate Regan, The Daily Campus)
Members of the men’s basketball team (8-9, 3-5 WAC) entered last night’s game against the University of Texas-El Paso (17-3, 7-1 WAC) with hopes of starting a new winning streak after falling to Louisiana Tech by one point last weekend.
They left with broken hearts, and they did so without injured star Bryan Hopkins, who sat out with a banged-up wrist.
In a back-and-forth contest that saw the two teams combine for 30 fouls, UTEP was led by Omar Thomas’ 22 points to a 60-55 victory.
The game itself, however, did not begin as competitively as the final score might indicate.
Hot shooting by the Miners and missed opportunities by the Mustangs led to a 10-0 UTEP lead before Patrick Simpson put SMU on the board with a successful jumper at the 15:44 mark.
Sophomore Devon Pearson then led the Ponies on an offensive tear in which SMU scored 16 points in just over seven minutes.
With 6:28 to go in the first half, Pearson nailed a free throw to tie the game 23. He would go on to hit two straight field goals, giving the Mustangs a 27-24 lead at the four-minute mark.
A sign of things to come, however, came when UTEP guard Miguel Ayala sank a three-pointer to knot the score once again. The junior from Tepic, Mexico, was 3-of-8 from beyond the arc, totaling 11 points.
A last-second jumper by SMU guard Justin Isham just before the half fell just short of the target, leaving the Miners up 30-29 at halftime.
When the teams returned to the floor, the Ponies charged out of the gate running on all cylinders. Three UTEP turnovers and two lay-ups by senior forward Eric Castro set the stage once again for Pearson, who threw down a fist-pumping slam to put the Mustangs ahead, 35-30.
With 16:32 left in the contest, UTEP junior Jason Williams and the Mustangs’ Paulius Ritter exchanged heated words and dirty looks after getting tangled up over a loose ball. The scuffle injected a competitive energy into each team, as nobody would lead by more than three points until the final seconds of play.
With 10 minutes remaining, Castro and the red-hot Thomas exchanged lay-ups, with SMU ahead 41-40.
The Mustang lead would increase following some fancy teamwork with 9:23 to go. A defensive rebound by Castro led to an athletic charge by Isham, who fed Pearson for a lay-up, and the Ponies led by three.
Wherever the SMU offense went, however, UTEP scorers followed. Senior Filiberto Rivera became a thorn in the side of Mustang defenders, as the Puerto Rico native hit key free throws down the stretch to keep the Miners’ hopes alive.
Rivera would sink a pair of consecutive three-pointers near the five-minute mark to catapult UTEP ahead of SMU, 52-49.
As the game turned more physical, the importance of free throws would become apparent. While the Mustangs were only able to hit 3 of 10 in the game, the Miners nailed four free throws in the final three minutes, going 10-for-15 on the night.
After UTEP forward John Tofi made good on a lay-up inside the two-minute mark to knot the score at 55, Pearson was tagged with a questionable turnover call to give the Miners the last possession they would need.
Thomas would go on to place the final nail in SMU’s coffin as time ran out. He scored four points in the final minute, and UTEP rode the momentum to a 60-55 win.
The bright spot for the Mustangs was Pearson, who led the team with 19 points and two steals. Castro, who was tops with 11 rebounds, followed with a point total of 14.
Tomorrow, SMU will host the Boise State Broncos (9-10, 3-5 WAC) in an effort to win their first home game since Jan. 6. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
