Box Score UTPB men's basketball led by as many as 18 points in the first half, but were outscored 46-28 in the second half of a 91-79 loss Saturday night on the road at Angelo State in San Angelo.
The Falcons got off to a quick start at the beginning of the game, making their first six field goal attempts, three of them 3-pointers, as they went on top 17-11 after the first four minutes.
Phadarius Taylor and
Stephan Thompson combined to score nine points as the Falcons went ahead 33-23 at 8:23 of the first half. UTPB went ahead by 18 on eight straight points from
Madison Turner, latter six on a pair of threes, to lead 49-31, but Angelo State ended the half on a seven point run to cut the UTPB advantage down to 51-45 at the half.
The Rams came out and erased the UTPB lead to start the second half, out-scoring the Falcons 14-2 in the first three minutes to take over the lead 59-53.
Turner hit a pair of baskets to even the game at 60-60 with 12:41 to play and a Thompson bucket a minute later gave the Falcons the lead again, but Angelo State pulled away with a 10-1 run to go ahead 80-70 with 4:52 on the clock.
Thomas Feeney hit a pair of threes two different times to pull the Falcons within five points, the second at 2:20 of the second, but Angelo State scored the final six points of the game in the last 29 seconds to wrap up the 12-point win.
UTPB shot lights-out in the first half, hitting 16-of-24 from the field in the first 20 minutes, but slipped to just 40 percent shooting after halftime. Angelo State hit 53 percent of its baskets in the first half and increased its accuracy in the second, connecting on 58 percent of its field goals.
Turner led UTPB with 20 points, hitting four from deep on the night with six rebounds. Thompson hit 8-11 from the floor to score 19 points and also had a team-high seven boards. The Falcons also got double-digit scoring from Taylor (13 points) and Feeney (15 points).
Demario Mayfield and Chris Jones each had a game-high 23 points for the Rams and handed out eight assists each.
UTPB is back home next weekend, hosting Eastern New Mexico Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
