Nov. 6, 2006
It didn't take long for the faithful of the UTPA men's basketball program to forget about last season's 6-24 record and embrace a newer, quicker and more athletic Broncs' squad.
In their first exhibition contest of the season, the Broncs quickly impressed the fans that packed the UTPA Fieldhouse as the Valley's squad rolled to a 78-57 victory over Monterrey Tech on Monday (Nov. 6).
The main reason why the Bronc faithful quickly forgot about last season came immediately in the starting lineup where the addition of junior college standouts Brian Burrell (Nacogdoches, TX/Paris J.C.), Julius Allgood (Marion, AL/Southern Union State C.C.) and Paul Stoll (Lansing, MI/Lansing C.C.) made an immediate impact in the rotation.
The JuCo trio helped the Broncs jump all over the Borregos as they scored 13 of the team's first 14 points en route to securing a 14-2 advantage prior to the first media timeout of the game. Burrell made his mark known as the team's sharpshooter from behind the three-point arc as the Paris College transfer connected on a pair of three-pointers to give the Broncs a 7-2 advantage with 17:53 remaining in the first half.
Burrell finished with a game-high 17 points as he finished 6-9 from the field, including 3-4 from behind the three-point arc in 26 minutes of action.
"I was really impressed with Brian's composure on the floor," said first-year head coach Tom Schuberth. "He really took advantage of what the defense was giving him, and he included all of his teammates in the game. He made the most of all of the good looks that Monterrey Tech was giving him."
Stoll proved to be one of the most impressive Broncs on the floor against the Borregos as the scrappy UTPA point guard finished with 12 points on 4-4 shooting, including 3-3 from behind the three-point arc, to go along with five assists and three rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
Allgood proved to be too strong for the Borregos as the 6-7 forward finished with 10 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes of action. A strong presence on the inside, Allgood collected six of his 10 points inside the paint against the Monterrey Tech defense.
"Paul did a fantastic job of controlling the offense, and he really played his heart out tonight. I will take that effort from him every night. Julius stepped up his game, played strong and gave a tremendous effort," Schuberth added.
While UTPA mixed up the lineup throughout the remainder of the first half, the Borregos were able to get back to within five points of the lead when Raul Lopez connected on a three-pointer at the 12:14 mark to cut the lead to 16-11. Lopez finished with a team-high 15 points in the game in 23 minutes of play time.
Over the course of the next six minutes, the Broncs rebuilt their lead to 14 points at 27-13 following a three-pointer from Stoll and a jumper at the free throw line from Burrell. The Broncs continued to step up their effort and pressure the Monterrey Tech offense as they cruised into intermission with a 21-point advantage with the score at 43-22.
The second half proved to be a continuation of the final six minutes of the first half as the Broncs jumped all over the Borregos from the get-go and held a 26-point advantage at 50-24 with 17:27 remaining in the contest.
Senior Colin Lien (Waterloo, IA/Southwestern C.C.) really opened up a lot of eyes on the evening, and he proved to be a dominant force in the middle in the second half where he scored 10 of his 15 points in the contest. He added six consecutive points for the Broncs following a pair of free throws and two lay-ins to give UTPA a 59-38 advantage with 7:57 remaining in the contest.
For the remainder of the game, Schuberth emptied his bench as all 15 players donning the Green and Orange saw court action against the Borregos. With the lead built up to as many as 27 points in the second half, the Broncs were able to cruise into the locker room with optimism for the 2006-07 campaign with their 78-57 victory over Monterrey Tech.
As a team, the Broncs connected on 44.9 percent of their attempts compared to 48.1 percent for the Borregos. UTPA held a huge advantage on the glass where the Broncs out-rebounded Monterrey Tech by a 46-30 margin and dished out 23 assists compared to 17 for their opponents.
The Broncs will look to take the momentum into their first regular season game when they welcome Incarnate Word to the UTPA Fieldhouse on Friday (Nov. 10). Tip-off for the season's inaugural game will be at 7:00 p.m.
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