Jan. 25, 2007

Box Score

North Dakota State made the most of two dozen turnovers by the UTPA men's basketball team en route to securing an 88-58 victory on the floor of the Bison Sports Arena on Thursday (Jan. 25) in Fargo, ND.

The Bison weren't the only ones with slippery hands as they committed 20 turnovers on their home court, but were able to turn UTPA's 24 turnovers into 29 points while the Broncs could only muster 10 points off of turnovers.

The United Basketball League game was close during the first eight minutes of the game after Brian Burrell connected on a three-pointer to tie the score at 17-17 with 12:44 remaining in the contest. However - North Dakota State had an answer for Burrell's three-pointer as the Bison rallied off a 16-0 run over the next seven minutes to take a 33-17 lead following a Mike Nelson jumper with less than five minutes in the half.

Following the tied score at 17-17, UTPA committed 13 turnovers to close out the half, including five miscues in their final five possessions prior to intermission. North Dakota State made the most of their gifts as the Bison headed into the locker room with a 39-23 lead.

The second half proved to be all Bison as North Dakota State fired out of the gates with a 9-2 run and upped their lead to 23 points at 48-25 at the 17:18 mark following a three-pointer off of the hands of Ben Woodside.

Following a pair of Woodside free throws with 8:32 left in the game, the Bison upped their lead to 30 points at 73-43 and cruised throughout the remainder of the contest en route to the 88-58 victory.

Woodside finished with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting while Brett Winkelman added 21 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two assists. Mike Nelson posted his first collegiate double-double with 10 points and 10 assists, and Andre Smith added 19 points and five rebounds for the Bison.

Colin Lien (Waterloo, IA/Southeastern C.C.) posted a team-high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go along with five rebounds in 19 minutes of action while Zach Trader (LaPorte, TX/LaPorte H.S.) collected 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 4-of-5 from the charity stripe.

As a team, the Bison connected on 55.4 percent (31-of-56) of their shots while UTPA was held to 37.3 percent (19-of-51), including 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from behind the three-point arc.

The Broncs will be back in action on Saturday (Jan. 17) when they travel to Brookings, SD, for a showdown with United Basketball League-opponent South Dakota State. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.

UTPA Sports Information