Seniors come up big for UTA men in final home game
In the final home game of the season, UT Arlington sent its four seniors out with a little help from the future.
Lonnie McClanahan, Greg Gainey, Jamel Outler and Anthony Walker combined for 42 points in one of UTA’s most efficient performances of the year, but it was freshman Erick Neal who sealed the deal.
Neal scored nine points in the final two minutes, including a 3-pointer that helped the Mavericks pull away from Arkansas-Little Rock 82-73 Saturday at the College Park Center.
The win seals a No. 5 seed for UTA and snaps UALR’s three-game win streak.
“Hopefully this is the game that gets us going,” coach Scott Cross said. “When [Neal and McClanahan] play defense together as well as they did tonight, our whole offense flows better.”
While Neal hit the big shot late, McClanahan left the College Park Center with one of the best games of his career. He scored 18 points and dished out a career-high 12 assists in front of a crowd of 2,512.
After UTA (16-12, 10-8 SBC) took a nine-point lead midway through the first half, the Trojans (13-16, 8-11 SBC) went on a 14-2 run and regain the lead. But the Mavericks came right back behind McClanahan’s aggressiveness.
He scored 16 points and dished out six assists in the first half to lead a charge that gave UTA a comfortable nine-point lead at halftime.
UTA shot 58 percent from the floor in its best offensive performance since shooting 59.7 percent against South Alabama on Jan. 3.
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This story was originally published February 28, 2015 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Seniors come up big for UTA men in final home game."