What seemed to be a walk in the park for the UTPB men’s basketball team with five minutes remaining to play was much more tense three minutes later.
Watching a double-digit lead shrink to less than a handful of points against Texas A&M International, the Falcons needed to quickly right the ship.
Up stepped DaJuan Jones.
Jones connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the key and then swished a pair of free throws moments later to help UTPB hold off the Dustdevils, 72-68, in the Lone Star Conference opener for both teams Thursday at the Falcon Dome.
Azariah Seay scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Falcons (5-2 overall, 1-0 in conference), with Max Warren finishing with 12, Jones 11 and Jalen King 10 in the victory.
Tyrese Davis scored 16 points to lead the Dustdevils (5-2, 0-1), who trailed 65-52 after a pair of free throws by UTPB’s Keyon Craddock with 5:39 to play in the game.
Texas A&M International then went on a 10-0 run, helped by three straight turnovers by the Falcons.
And when Lonzo Rand converted two free throws with 2:42 remaining to play, the Dustdevils trailed by three (63-60) and the previously raucous crowd was suddenly silent.
That’s when Jones, after receiving a pass from D’Mari Wiltz, wasted no time lofting from long distance to bring the energy back to the Falcons’ bench.
UTPB is back to try to stretch its winning streak to four against Texas A&M-Kingsville at 3 p.m. at the Falcon Dome.
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UTPB 72, Texas A&M International 68
TAMI (5-2 overall, 0-1 Lone Star)
John Achebe 3-6 1-2 7, Mike Rivera 4-5 0-3 8, Greg Bowie II 1-5 0-0 3, Jermaine Drewey 2-4 2-2 7, Juwan White 1-5 0-0 2, Shea Rax 0-4 0-0 0, Matthew Okoye 0-1 1-2 1, Lonzo Rand 5-8 1-1 13, Tiras Morton 3-6 5-8 11, Tyrese Davis 6-7 4-5 16, Olaverr Camacho 0-0 0-0 0, Keldrick Hayes Jr. 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 14-23 68.
UTPB (5-1, 1-0)
Nathaniel Powell 1-2 1-2 3, Jalen King 5-7 0-0 10, DaJuan Jones 3-9 3-4 11, Keyon Craddock 1-4 4-5 6, Rodney Carson Jr. 1-2 2-2 4, Azariah Seay 6-12 5-5 18, D’Mari WIltz 1-1 0-1 2, Max Warren 3-4 6-6 12, Alvarez 0-0 0-0 0, Lino Manham 2-2 2-2 6, Gio Lujan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-43 23-27 72.
Halftime — UTPB 36, TAMI 35. 3-Point goals — TAMI 4-15 (Bowie II 1-4, Drewey 1-3, WHite 0-2, Rax 0-2, Rand 2-3, Morton 0-1), UTPB 3-7 (Jones 2-4, Seay 1-3). Total fouls — TAMI 24, UTPB 20. Fouled out — TAMI (Rivera). Technical fouls — None. Rebounds — TAMI 23 (Davis 6), UTPB 34 (King 4 Jones 4, Craddock 4, Carson Jr. 4, Seay 4). Assists — TAMI 6 (White 4), UTPB 6 (Jones 4).
