Box Score

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EDINBURG – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's basketball team fell to the defending Western Athletic Conference champion New Mexico State University Aggies 78-61 on Thursday at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
 
Graduate student Javorn Farrell led three Broncs (8-20, 4-9 WAC) in double-figures scoring with 19 points. Sophomore Shaquille Hines scored 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting with five rebounds (four offensive). Junior Lauri Toivonen tied his career-high with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including his first-career three, plus 2-of-2 from the line.
 
The Broncs shot a season-best 93.8 percent (15-for-16) from the foul line.
 
Daniel Mullings led four Aggies (21-8, 10-3 WAC) in double-figures scoring with 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 1-of-1 from behind the arc, plus 7-of-9 from the line, with seven rebounds and six assists. Sim Bhullar scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting with five rebounds and three blocks. Tshilidzi Nephawe scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with five rebounds. Renaldo Dixon scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting with four rebounds.
 
The Aggies shot 68.3 percent (28-for-41) from the field, including 80 percent (16-for-20) while outscoring the Broncs 45-28 in the second half to break a 33-33 tie.
 
The game was tight for the first 11 minutes, as the Broncs were within 18-16. A three-point play by Nephawe, a three-pointer by Mullings and a layup by Dixon, however, put the Aggies up 10 with seven minutes left.
 
The Broncs responded with a 17-5 run over the next 6:18 to take a 33-31 lead on a pair of Farrell free throws with 41 seconds to go. Toivonen scored six points during the run, with his second of two three-point plays and his three-pointer. Senior Justin Leathers also hit a three-pointer while Farrell made a layup and a jumper and senior Josh Cleveland hit a layup.
 
Bhullar came up with a dunk to tie the game before halftime, kicking off a 16-2 run over the next seven minutes, during which the Aggies hit all seven of their shots while holding the Broncs 1-for-7 to pull away.
 
The Broncs are back in action on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 9 p.m. when they visit Bakersfield.

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