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The UTEP men’s basketball team (5-3) returned to the Don Haskins Tuesday, Nov. 28 to take on the Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi Islanders (3-4).
The Miners are coming off two straight losses, one to the Bradley Braves (6-1) at the SoCal Challenge and the other to Loyola Marymount University Lions (5-3) on the road.
Head Coach Joe Golding sent out senior guards Zid Powell and Tae Hardy, senior forward Calvin Soloman, junior forward Otis Fraizer III and junior forward Kevin Kalu to start the game.
The Miners started the match with a 5-0 run which was broken by a three-pointer by sophomore guard Kam Parker. UTEP would keep the Islanders at arm’s length up until the last few minutes of the half when TAMUCC managed to tie the score off a driving layup play by junior guard Dian Wright-Forde.
TAMUCC kept the momentum in the final seconds of the first half as the Texas coast team took the lead.
The Miners would end the first half down five points with a score of 33-28.
Fraiser III led the Miners at the half with 10 points trailed by Hardy and freshman guard David Terrell Jr. with six points each.
The Miners closed the gap to start the second half going 4-0 in just the first three minutes. The game was within one point for the Miners, but an Islander trip to the free throw line extended TAMUCC’s lead to two.
This type of push by the Miners continued throughout the night as UTEP would fall behind, rally back, but fail to take back the lead allowing the Islanders to go on a tear.
The final score for Tuesday’s game would be 67-63 in favor of the visiting Islanders, marking the third straight loss for the Miners.
Fraizer III ended the game with 16 points followed closely by Solomon who noted 13 points for the Miners.
Powell and Soloman lead the team in assists with four each.
Powell would also lead the team in rebounding with eight, all of which came off defensive plays.
UTEP dominated TAMUCC in the paint with 34 points and off fast breaks with 20 points. Meanwhile, the Islanders had more points off turnovers, second chance and off the bench.
After the game, Golding praised the visiting team for the effort places on the court compared to what his squad put out.
“I thought they were the tougher team for 40 minutes,” Golding said. “I thought the last play of the game summed it all up. They get three offensive rebounds. The toughness part, they won the battle in there and got a big bucket there to go up three. We told our guys they were a good team. We didn’t do a good job as a staff. We’ve got to do a better job, that’s the bottom line.”
The Miners now await to take on the Western New Mexico Mustangs, a Division II school, at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4 at the Don Haskins Center.
Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela Armendariz is the sports editor and may be reached at [email protected]: @rivasemmanuel2 on Instagram.
