Men’s Basketball Suffers First Loss of Season at Jarvis
November 24, 2009

HAWKINS, Texas – The University of Texas at Tyler men’s basketball team lost its first game of the 2009-2010 season on Tuesday night by dropping a 63-59 heartbreaker to Jarvis Christian at the E.W. Rand Gymnasium in Hawkins.

The game’s momentum went back and forth between the two teams throughout the night with neither team holding a lead larger than seven points in the first half or four points in the second half.

With just under a minute to play, UT Tyler senior Neal Welch (Farmers Branch, Texas) kept his team’s hopes alive by connecting on a long jump shot to pull the Patriots within two.

On the ensuing possession, the Patriots (3-1) regained control of the ball with just 29 seconds remaining in regulation after an offensive foul call on Jarvis.

However, just seconds later Jarvis senior Phillip Gavin (Killeen, Texas) clinched the win for the Bulldogs by stealing the ball away from UT Tyler and connecting on two free throw attempts to halt the Patriots’ season-opening win streak at three.

Gavin finished the night with a game-high 15 points to lead Jarvis (1-3) in the game.

Seniors Hakeem Kareem (Houston, Texas) and Dexter McMarion (Austin, Texas) led UT Tyler on the evening with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

On Saturday, the Patriots will return to the Herrington Patriot Center to open American Southwest Conference play against Texas Lutheran at 3 p.m.

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