This one ended a lot closer than UTPB men’s basketball coach Kyle Tolin would have liked.
Up comfortably by double digits at halftime, the Falcons had to scratch and claw their way to a 79-77 victory in the season opener for both teams Friday at the Falcon Dome.
It also was the first victory for Tolin after taking over the program in August.
Jordan Horn led the Falcons (1-0) with a game-high 19 points, with DaJuan Jones adding 12 and Miles Daniels 10 in the victory as UTPB had 10 different players score.
Rylan O’Brien led the Grizzlies (0-1) with 15 points. Hayden Meakes had 13, Malik Moore and Jordan Notch each finished with 11 and Sterling Benjamin chipped in 10 in the loss.
“I thought offensively we kind of got it going with some good shots, made some tough shots,” Tolin said. “In the second half, to their credit, they (Adams State) hung in there and kept fighting and we didn’t guard very well.
“That’s got to be a staple of ours if we are going to be any good at all. We did make enough plays to win and I think I told our guys after the game that you don’t apologize for win.”
UTPB led 42-31 at the break, only to watch Adams State slowly but surely work its way back into the ball game, finally tying things up on a 3-pointer by O’Brien with 6:34 to play in the game.
The teams then began trading baskets before Kendal Frey connected on 3-pointer from the right win to spark a 10-5 run that helped the Falcons move far enough in front to hang on.
After the teams traded a pair of baskets to open the contest, the visiting Grizzlies took control with a quick 6-1 run for a 10-5 lead.
That prompted Tolin to call timeout with 13:47 remaining in the first half.
“We weren’t defending,” Tolin said. ‘They ran the same play over and over and we weren’t doing what we needed to do.”
The Falcons heard him loud and clear, scoring the next 12 points and going on a 22-6 run to change the course of the first half.
Horn and Daniels led the charge, find their range from beyond the 3-point line. Horn finished the first half with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 4 of 5 on 3-pointers.
Daniels added eight points in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers.
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UTPB 79, Adams State
ADAMS STATE (0-1)
Malik Moore 4-5 2-2 11, Hayden Meakes 5-18 3-3 13, Tyrin Hollis 0-3 2-2 2, Rylan O’Brien 4-16 4-4 15, Nykolas Lange 2-5 0-0 5, Cole Arceneaux 3-6 1-2 8, Jordan Notch 5-6 1-1 11, Sterling Benjamin 4-5 2-4 10, Cody Frederickson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-55 15-18 77.
UTPB (1-0)
Lemmie Howard 3-4 0-0 6, Miles Daniels 3-7 2-2 10, Dajuan Jones 5-10 2-3 12, Jordan Horn7-11 1-1 19, Kendal Frey 4-10 0-0 9, Keyon Craddock 3-5 0-0 9, Max Warren 1-2 0-0 3, Zavon Godwin 2-4 3-5 7, Alvarez Powell 1-2 0-0 2, Quinntez Grimes 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 30-56 9-13 79.
Halftime — UTPB 42, Adams State 31. 3-Point goals — Adams State 6-20 (Moore 1-1, Meakes 0-2, Hollis 0-1, O’Brien 3-11, Lange 1-3, Arceneaux 1-2), UTPB 10-24 (Daniels 2-6, Horn 4-6, Frey 1-6, Craddock 3-5, Powell 0-1). Total fouls — Adams State 15, UTPB 17. Fouled out — UTPB: Howard. Technical fouls — Adams State (Notch). Rebounds — Adams State 32 (Meakes 8), UTPB 25 (ones 5, Godwin 5). Assists — Adams State 9 (Arceneaux 5), UTPB 17 (Jones 9).
