Feb. 10, 2007
Box Score
Utah Valley State left the Rio Grande Valley with not only an 81-76 victory over The University of Texas-Pan American, but also will the title of the first team to defeat the Broncs on their home floor during the 2006-07 campaign.
With the triumph over the Broncs on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 10), the Wolverines improved their record to 17-7 on the season and 4-1 in United Basketball League action while UTPA dropped to 12-11 and 2-3 in UBL competition.
In one of the most well-played games of the season, neither team deserved to lose the game according to the stat sheet as both teams finished with high shooting percentages, low turnovers and almost identical statistics across the board.
The Wolverines finished the game shooting 57.1 percent (28-of-49) from the field to go along with nine turnovers while UTPA connected on 60.0 percent (24-of-40) of its attempts while committing only 11 turnovers in the game.
"There were a lot of positives to come out of this game," said head men's basketball coach Tom Schuberth. "I was pleased with their effort because they never game in. Not one time during the game did this team quit, and I couldn't ask for anything more from them. It would've been nice to keep that undefeated home winning streak, but this team still has a chance to have a tremendous season."
The game was tightly played throughout the first half as the Wolverines were able to mount their biggest advantage at 22-15 following a Matt Peterson jumper in the paint with 11:07 remaining in the frame. The Broncs proceeded to go on an 8-1 run over the next four minutes and tied the game for the third time in the first frame at 23-23 when Colin Lien (Waterloo, IA/Southeastern C.C.) connected on a pair of free throws at the 7:32 mark.
The lead on the scoreboard never got higher than five points throughout the remainder of the first half, but the Wolverines were able to take a two-point advantage into the locker room when David Heck missed on a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds only to have Ryan Toolson grab the rebound and hit the lay-in as time expired.
In the second half, the Wolverines controlled the lead on the scoreboard for the final 20 minutes of the contest, but the Broncs continued to put the pressure on the UVSC defense as they attempted to take the lead.
UTPA junior Paul Stoll (Lansing, MI/Lansing C.C.) connected on a three-pointer to cut the Wolverines' lead to one point at 45-44 with 13:19 remaining in the contest. However - the veteran-laced UVSC squad never panicked as they remained in control of the game and took a 10-point advantage at 72-62 after a three-pointer by Heck with 1:48 remaining in the game.
The Broncs refused to go away silently as they cut the lead to three points at 79-76 with eight seconds remaining in the contest after Stoll connected on fourth three-pointer of the afternoon. However - a pair of free throws by Heck in the final seconds secured the 81-76 victory for the Wolverines.
Heck finished with a team-high 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-7 shooting from behind the three-point line, while Toolson added 17 points in 25 minutes of action. Chris Bailey and Joe Walker each added 12 points in the winning cause for the Wolverines.
Stoll led the Broncs with 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-7 from behind the three-point line, to go along with three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 39 minutes of action.
Brian Burrell (Nacogdoches, TX/Paris J.C.) finished with a near double-double (points-rebounds) with a 17-point, nine-rebound performance in 37 minutes of action while Lien added 16 points and four rebounds for the Broncs.
"I believe that this team has high character, and I don't expect us to hang our heads because of one loss at home. We didn't lose this game because of lack of effort this afternoon. We lost this game because of lack of preparation in practice, and we were not very focused this past week. We need to regain our focus and prepare for the next game because we only have two more home games left in the season," added Schuberth.
UTPA will be back in action on Thursday (Feb. 15) when the Broncs welcome South Dakota State to the Rio Grande Valley. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information
