Box Score

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's basketball team shot a season-high 58 percent from the field to record its first Western Athletic Conference win, 78-66 over the University of Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos on Thursday at Municipal Auditorium, the site of the Broncs' 1963 NAIA Championship.
 
It is the Broncs' (5-14, 1-3 WAC) first conference win in a conference with an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament since Feb. 5, 1998, an 88-87 Sun Belt Conference home win over Western Kentucky.
 
It was the Broncs' highest single-game shooting percentage since Feb. 14, 2009, when they shot 68.8 percent in an 86-82 home win over Longwood. The Broncs were consistent, shooting 57.1 percent in the first half and 59.1 percent in the second half.
 
The Broncs also played strong defense, holding the Kangaroos (5-11, 2-2 WAC) to 33.9 percent shooting, including 19.2 percent (5-for-26) while jumping out to a 42-27 first half lead.
 
Sophomore Shaquille Hines led four Broncs in double-figures scoring with 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting. He also had eight rebounds, three blocks, two assists and one steal. Junior Shaquille Boga scored 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting, plus 7-of-10 from the line, with four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Senior Justin Leathers scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, with eight rebounds and three steals. Graduate student Javorn Farrell scored 10 points with five rebounds and five assists.
 
Martez Harrison led four Kangaroos in double-figures scoring with 17 points. Fred Chatmon scored 13 points with 11 rebounds. Nelson Kirksey scored 13 points with seven rebounds. Trinity Hall scored 10 points with four rebounds.
 
The Broncs jumped out to a 12-5 lead, but the Kangaroos pulled to within 17-15 on a Harrison layup with 10:15 remaining in the first half. The next time down the court, Hines made a jumper to spark a 12-3 run that saw the Broncs go up 29-18 on a Leathers jumper four minutes later.
 
The Broncs led by as many as 16 in the first half on a layup by junior Christian Hildebrandt with 1:01 left, and then immediately pushed their lead to 21 after threes by Farrell and Boga to start the second half.
 
The Broncs took their largest lead of the game at 57-35 when Boga hit a jumper to make it a 22-point game with 13:32 to go.
 
The Broncs are back in action on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. when they visit Chicago State.

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