Box Score UTPB men's basketball came back from trailing by 11 points to grab the lead in the second half, but was unable to sustain the momentum Thursday night as the Falcons fell 97-87 against Arkansas Fort Smith in Heartland Conference action at the Stubblefield Center in Fort Smith, Ark.
The Lions broke away from a close game with five straight points six minutes into the first half to take a 23-15 lead.
UAFS led by as many as 11 points in the half and hit the final basket in the first period, a 3-pointer from DaVaunta Thomas, to lead 43-34 at the break.
UTPB came out strong to start the second half with a 6-2 run in the first two minutes, getting a pair of layups from
Phadarius Taylor and a basket from
Codye Hatcher. After Dusan Stojanovic hit a three for Arkansas Fort Smith,
Chris Griffin responded with a three of his own, and after
Xavier Martin hit a layup off a UAFS turnover, Griffin sunk another from long range after an
Andre Rieder steal to even the game at 48-48.
The Falcons went ahead six minutes into the second half when Taylor turned a steal into a three-point play on a fast-break layup and a free throw to put UTPB in the lead 53-52.
That proved to be short-served as UAFS went back ahead on its next possession and never trailed the remainder of the game.
The Falcons were able to keep UAFS in range over the final 10 minutes but were never able to get closer than three points. The Lions pulled ahead in the final minutes, increasing its lead up to 11 points at 93-82 to put the game away at the end.
Hatcher and Taylor shared the UTPB team lead with 20 points each, Hatcher hitting 10-of-14 from the field and Taylor finishing the night 7-of-13 on field goal attempts. Hatcher led the Falcons with 18 rebounds and finished the first half with a double-double (10 points & 11 rebounds).
Xavier Martin added 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
Stojanovic led all players on the night with a 30-point effort for Arkansas Fort Smith.
The Falcons look to close out a two-game road stretch with a win Saturday afternoon, traveling to Claremore, Okla, for a 3 p.m. contest at Rogers State.
