box score
PLAINVIEW – Trailing by two points with 8:17 to go in the game, the University of Texas of the Permian Basin men's basketball team out-scored Wayland Baptist 23-14 the rest of the way to pull out a 75-64 win. After starting the season 1-4, the Falcons have now won four-straight and are now 5-5 on the year.
The Falcons were red-hot from the field, hitting a season-best 53.3 percent as five different players scored in double-figures with
Dwayne Soders leading the way with 15 points and 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Prior to the contest against Wayland Baptist, Soders had scored three points and pulled down four rebounds the entire season.
UTPB hit 24-of-45 field goals and drained 20 of the 23 free throw attempts as nine different players scored in the victory.
Jamal Holden,
Erik Martin and
Louis Crane each added 12 points, while
Ke'Andre Derrick added 10.
The two teams went back-and-forth in the first half with the lead changing seven times including an eight point advantage by Wayland Baptist with 4:22 to go before the break. With the Pioneers up 31-23 after a three-pointer by Desmond Jones, the Falcons used a 9-2 run to take a 34-33 advantage into the locker room.
The trend would continue in the second half as the game would be tied on three different occasions while the lead changed four other times. Wayland Baptist opened the second half with a 7-2 run to lead 40-35 with 17:58 to go, but the Falcons managed to tie it at 40 less than a minute later after Soders knocked down a jumper. The Pioneers took back the lead and kept it until the 7:21 mark of the game.
Soders would tie the game once again at 54 each with 6:55 to go and a scoring drought by Wayland Baptist helped UTPB jump out to a 66-54 lead they would not lose the rest of the way. The Pioneers went scoreless for nearly four minutes until George Williams broke the streak with a jumper with 3:05 to go.
While Wayland Baptist couldn't buy a point, the Falcons made a living at the free throw line, hitting 7-of-8 from the line and missing just two field goals during that span. UTPB also took advantage of Wayland's miscues, scoring 18 points off turnovers and had 17 points off its bench.
The Falcons will look to keep their unbeaten streak in December alive when they head to Canyon to take on West Texas A&M on Wednesday, Dec. 15. They will finally return for just their second home game on Jan. 2 when Angelo State comes to Odessa.
