Basketball season underway, men's team falls to UTA

Patriot newcomer Darren Houliston goes up for a score against UTA’s Jordan Reeve. The Patriots lost 96-56 to their Division-I opponent. Photo by Clay Ihlo

ARLINGTON-The University's men's basketball team ran into great shooting by Division-I school the University of Texas at Arlington on Tuesday night at Texas Hall. The Patriots fell 96-56 in their season opener to the Mavericks.
UTA jumped out to a nine point lead in the first four minutes of the game on the back off two three-point shots.

The Patriots cut the lead to four several minutes later after a three-point play from Jacob McDonald. It's the closest the Patriots would be the remainder of the game.
The Mavs' offense picked up and the team went on a 10-3 run in two minutes. UTA hit two threes to extend their lead to 17. Their hot hand continued and the Mavericks took a 50-24 lead into the half, UTA shot 54.5 percent in the half, 52.9 percent from behind the arc.

The Patriots' did their best to hang with the D-I ball club in the second half.
Michael Johnson and Kevin Murray hit back-to-back threes early in the second half, but the Mavericks proved to be too much on offense.
UTA outscored the Patriots by 14 in the second half to win by 40.

"When people see the score in the paper it's not indicative of how the game was played," Patriots coach Kenny Bizot said. "It's tough when a team like UTA hits 14 threes, but I saw positives for us."
The Mavericks finished the contest shooting 51.6 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent on three-point shots. The Patriots shot just 33.3 percent overall.
Darius Richardson led all scorers with 18 points. LaMarcus Reed scored 17 points for the Mavericks, respectively. Kevin Murray led the Patriots with 10 points.

The Patriots did show off their size against UTA, tying the Mavericks with 38 rebounds for the game.
"Playing a team like UTA makes up better," Bizot said.
The Patriots' home opener is 7 p.m. Tuesday against the Louisiana State University at Shreveport. American Southwest Conference play begins Saturday against Hardin-Simmons. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.