March 6, 2010

Final Stats

The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team defeated the North Dakota Fighting Sioux 71-68 in its last Great West Conference contest of the season at the Sioux Center in Grand Forks, N.D.

UTPA saw three players in double figures. Freshman Aaron Urbanus led the Broncs with 19 points, followed by junior Manny Hendrix with 14 and junior Julius Hearn with 10.

The Broncs took an early lead with a three-point basket by Urbanus, but the Fighting Sioux tied the game at four after a jumper from Travis Bledsoe, who led UND with 15 points, and a tip-in from Jordan Allard. However, a jumper by Hendrix gave the Broncs a 6-4 lead until the Sioux tied the game 38-38 at the 18:14 mark in the second half.

UND's largest lead of the night was 44-42 at 14:06 in the second half, but a jumper from Urbanus and a pair of free-throws by Hendrix secured a Broncs lead for the remainder of the game.

The Fighting Sioux came within 68-69 of the Broncs with just 19 seconds left until UND's Nick Haugen fouled out sending Nick Weiermiller to the line, where he sank both free throws to give the Broncs a 71-86 lead with just 15 seconds left in the game.

"I thought our Broncs did an outstanding job matching the intensity level of a fired-up North Dakota squad on their senior night. It was a great team effort with a lot of contributions and Aaron Urbanus was outstanding," head coach Ryan Marks said.

With solid shooting throughout the game, the Broncs recorded a season-high three-point field goal percentage of 44.7 (9-19).

The Broncs close the season 5-26 overall and 4-8 in Great West Conference play. Currently, the Broncs stand in a two-way tie for sixth with final rankings pending due to rescheduled games that will be played tomorrow (Sunday, Mar. 7). The Great West Conference Basketball Tournament will be hosted by Utah Valley in Orem, Utah on March 10-14.

UTPA Media Relations