EL PASO — The Sul Ross State men's basketball team held its own during an exhibition game against the Division I UTEP Miners on Tuesday night at the Don Haskins Center.
The Lobos fell 99-59 before a crowd of 3,701 fans.
At times, Sul Ross was able to run with a much taller Miners squad by forcing turnovers and knocking down some good shots.
"It's going to make us tougher. I was happy with them," said Sul Ross head coach
Xavier Webb. "They battled, they fought despite the height difference.
"There were some good points in that game where our motion looked beautiful, we put together stops, made runs against that really good UTEP team."
After the Miners got a three-pointer from Tae Hardy, the Lobos answered right back with a three from Luke Pluymen that came off an assist from
Julian Paredes to start the contest.
The Lobos trailed by six points with 14:22 in the first half when Christian Nevarez made an open jumper.
Paredes followed up with another jumper in the paint to keep the Lobos within reach by six with 13:50 on the clock.
UTEP led by as much as 19 in the opening half.
Sul Ross cut the deficit down to 12 when Paredes was dished two assists from
Trey Nelson that resulted in a pair of three-pointers.
The Miners extended their lead to 18, but the Lobos kept fighting as Nevarez nailed a shot from beyond the arc.
Pluymen nailed another three-pointer to cut the deficit down to 14 with 14:53 in the second half.
Davone Bass added with seven points and a steal. Pluymen ended up with 12 points, two steals and three assists while he finished 4 for 4 from beyond the arc.
>> HOMECOMING: Six Lobos returned home to El Paso.
Paredes (Canutillo HS), Nevarez (Americas HS), Omar Ibarra (Ysleta HS),
Mitchell Martinez (Eastwood HS), Manuel Flores (Chapin HS) and assistant coach
Jake Lopez (El Dorado HS) all got to perform on the big stage in front of their friends and family.
Paredes led Sul Ross with 16 points and five rebounds. Nevarez chipped in with five points, four assists and two rebounds.
"It's a great experience. Playing in front of my family, friends and just El Paso — it's awesome," Paredes said. "I felt like we fought hard the whole game and that's all you can do is just leave it all out there."
>> HEAD TO HEAD: This was the 39th meeting between UTEP and Sul Ross. Both programs met last on Dec. 5, 2020.
Prior to the meeting in 2020, Sul Ross fell to the Miners by eight points on Oct. 28, 2017. Sul Ross made the trip to El Paso from 2007 to 2008 before continuing the series on Nov. 5, 2011.
The series was then rekindled on Dec. 30, 2014.
>> BUSY WEEK: Sul Ross makes a trip to the Pacific Northwest to take on Whitworth University on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. PST in Spokane, Wash.
The Lobos then conclude the trip Saturday, Nov. 19 with a 3 p.m. PST tipoff with Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.
"That one really gets us ready to go up to Washington," Webb added. "There's still a lot of room to improve and get ready, one, for conference but also for our next go around with Whitworth."
