OMAHA, NE – Doubted by fans across the country, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff men’s basketball team made an impressive debut as a team but fell short of the Creighton Bluejays with a final score of 90 – 77 on Tuesday evening at the Chi Health Center Omaha.
Trey Sampson had a smooth debut in a UAPB jersey, finishing with 29 points and shooting 55-percent from the field. Sampson also added ten rebounds to secure a double-double in his first game as a Golden Lion.
Shawn Williams finished the game with 16 points, of which 12 points were three-point baskets.
Brandon Brown did a great job of cleaning up the boards for Arkansas-Pine Bluff, snatching 14 rebounds, in which eight rebounds would be on the offensive end of the court. Brown also shot 100-percent from the free-throw line, going four-for-four.
From the jump, Creighton jumped out to a fast 7-2 lead three minutes into the ball game, which instantly set off a fire within the Golden Lions. 6’9 forward Trey Sampson responded with a quick five points, causing the Bluejays and Golden Lions to look eye-to-eye with things tied at seven. From a Sampson rebound, guard Shawn Willaims pushed the ball up the floor, kicking it to Brahm Harris for a three-point basket to gain a slight lead over Creighton, making their presence known.
From the moment the Golden Lions had a lead over the Bluejays, they would continue to hold down the gas, pulling away with a 26-11 lead halfway through the first half. Not only would UAPB dominate offensively but would do the same defensively as well, causing Creighton to turn the ball over nine times in the half and converting those turnovers into 17 Arkansas-Pine Bluff points.
UAPB first-year head coach Solomon Bozeman’s energy intensified after every Arkansas-Pine Bluff stop, allowing his team to excite on and off the floor on each play.
All it took was for Sampson to see one shot sink before taking over the first half, and with his father in the stands, Sampson understood what his mission was. Sampson would help Arkansas-Pine Bluff lead Creighton by nine points at halftime, with a score of 47-38, shooting 51-percent collectively as a team, with Sampson leading all scorers with a dominant 20 points, shooting 63-percent from the field.
“I thought we had an excellent first half and executed well offensively, and our transition defense was great,” said Bozeman about his first-half success.
Eager to have the same energy in the second half, a Creighton dunk would cause the momentum to shift, but the Golden Lions would react with two back-to-back three-pointers from Williams and Jaylen Thomas to bump up to a 13-point lead over Creighton. However, failure to take care of the basketball allowed the Bluejays to score 17 consecutive points, causing the UAPB to lose the lead.
Hoping to regain the lead by focusing on offense would cause UAPB to lose focus defensively by not getting back in transition and not closing out on the ball hard enough, allowing Creighton to score 32 second-half points in the paint, 14 of those points being on a fast break.
However, the Golden Lions did not give up with Brandon Brown scrapping in the paint looking to create opportunities and would do so by snatching ten offensive rebounds in the second half.
UAPB would give the rest they had in the tank but would run out of fuel and fall to Creighton with a final score of 90-77.
“We have to get back and become a lot better in transition defense which ultimately hurt us in the second half,” said Bozeman about the turning point in the second half. “Our halfcourt defense is good because our guys are always in help and are always flying around, but our transition defense has to get better.”
UAPB men’s basketball will get back in the lab and prepare to bounce back against Colorado State on Friday at the Moby Arena. The game is set to tip-off at 9 p.m., and the action will be streamed live on Varsity Network.
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