Senior Eric Miller had eight points and four rebounds in Saturday's 51-49 heartbreaking setback to Texas-Permian Basin.Grizzlies drop third straight
November 28, 2009CANYON, Texas— Eljiah Jordan scored 28 points including the game-winning two as his University of Texas-Permian Basin Falcons allowed just two free throws in the final four minutes to the Adams State College men’s basketball team which lost for the third straight time, Saturday afternoon here in the First United Bank Center during consolation action in the Holiday Inn West Texas Thanksgiving Classic.
The Falcons, who came from as many as eight points down in the second half, used a 9-2 run to tie the game at 47 as the Grizzlies came up empty on five straight possessions down the stretch, a span that saw them commit three turnovers.
Jordan later gave the Falcons a 49-47 lead with 28 seconds left before the Grizzlies finally got back in the scoring act as Xavier Lewis (San Jose, Calif.) nailed two free throws to knot the game at 49 only to see Jordan win the 51-49 game with four seconds left.
Jordan was a stellar 11-for-16 from the floor during the game and hit 3 of his 4 3-point attempts throughout the afternoon that saw the Falcons improve to 1-3 on the season with their initial win.
The Grizzlies, who trailed 26-24 at the half before building a 40-32 lead on a Nick Fox (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 3-point play with 11 ½ minutes to go, fell to 2-3 on the year heading into Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play that starts next Friday at Regis.
That game will begin at 5 p.m. in the Regis Fieldhouse and can be heard live on KSPK-FM (104.1 in Alamosa) and via the internet at www.kspk.com.
Saturday’s game was played at a slow-tempo as the teams combined for just 100 points. Both teams shot the ball fairly well as UTPB shot at a respectable 48.8 percent (21-43) clip from the field while hitting on 4 of 8 (50.0 percent) 3-point attempts.
The Grizzlies shot at a 47.1 percent (16-34) clip from the field but were just 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) from beyond the arc, a big difference in the game.
The Falcons also had a 28-21 edge in total rebounds and allowed the Grizzlies to grab just two offensive rebounds throughout the contest.
The Grizzlies were also guilty of 15 total turnovers, one more than UTPB.
Offensively, the Grizzlies received 11 points from sophomore Robby Hanzlik (Denver, Colo.), who left the game with an injury with 13:27 to go, just moments before Fox’s 3-point play gave the Grizzlies the largest lead.
The Grizzlies then scored just 12 more points, including six free throws, the rest of the way.
Grizzly junior Seth Heinbaugh (Prescott Valley, Ariz.) was also in double-figures finishing the game with 10 points. He also had four rebounds sharing team-high honors with senior Eric Miller (Denver, Colo.), who scored eight points.
Austin Williams was also in double figures for the Falcons and finished with 12 points on a 6-for-7 shooting effort.
The host West Texas A&M Buffs who had started the season 1-3 won the tournament title with a 74-55 win over Lone Star Conference rival Southwestern Oklahoma State earlier in the day.
