Patriots Rally to Snap Four Game Skid
January 26, 2008

The University of Texas at Tyler men’s basketball team erased a 21 point halftime deficit to top LeTourneau 66-59 and end its four game losing streak in front of a home crowd at the Herrington Patriot Center on Saturday afternoon.

UT Tyler went just 6-for-24 from the field in the first half, as Le Tourneau scored 37 points and led for the entire first period. In the second half, the Patriots shot 56 percent as they slowly chipped away at the YellowJacket lead. The Patriots did not lead the game until the 17:35 mark of the final stanza when senior Brandon Weasby (Houston, Texas) hit a 3-pointer to put the UT Tyler up by two. Weasby would go 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the game’s final 15 seconds to seal the win for the Patriots. UT Tyler ended the game on a 21-6 run.

Senior Marlon Hill (Port Arthur, Texas) returned to the starting line-up to lead the Patriots with 15 points. Weasby followed Hill with 11 points, while junior Anthony Reese (Longview, Texas) had 10 points. Senior Patrick Branche (Houston, Texas) had nine points and nine rebounds, with five of the points and five of the rebounds coming in the final six minutes of the contest.

With the win the Patriots improve to 7-10 overall and 6-6 in the East Division of the American Southwest Conference. With the loss, LeTourneau falls to 8-9 on the season and 5-7 in league play.

The Patriots will travel to Richardson on Monday when they take on UT Dallas at the UTD Activities Center. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

Athletics Home Page