Shaq Boga 11-11-13 3
Dutch Cowgill
Shaquille Boga (#5)

Men's Basketball

Men's Basketball Has Strong Defensive Effort in Loss to Utah Valley

Box Score

OREM, Utah – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's basketball team held the Utah Valley University Wolverines to 26.4 percent shooting from the field in a 45-42 loss on Saturday at the UCCU Center.
 
It was the lowest shooting percentage by a Broncs (9-21, 5-10 WAC) opponent in more than five years. The Broncs have twice held opponents to 27.5 percent shooting during that time frame, both times at home, and most recently on Jan. 16, 2010 against Chicago State.
 
The Broncs shot 36.7 percent, and each team made three three-pointers. The Wolverines (18-10, 12-3 WAC), however, went 14-for-19 from the line while the Broncs were 3-for-7.
 
Junior Shaquille Boga led the Broncs with 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Sophomore Shaquille Hines scored 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting with five rebounds and one block.
 
Ben Aird and Mitch Bruneel led the Wolverines with nine points each. Aird also had a game-high 13 rebounds and a game-high five blocks.
 
The Broncs led by as many as nine, going up 18-9 on a Hines jumper with 6:39 remaining in the first half.
 
A pair of free throws by Zach Nelson 50 seconds later, however, kicked off a 12-0 run as the Wolverines went up 21-18. Junior Christian Hildebrandt nailed a three-pointer as the first half came to a close to tie the game at 21-21.
 
The Wolverines took the lead back and went up by as many as eight when Holton Hunsaker hit a pair of free throws to make it 41-33 with 6:48 to go.
 
The Broncs responded with a 9-2 run to pull within 43-42 on a layup by junior Lauri Toivonen with 20 seconds left, but that's as close as they got.
 
The Broncs close out the regular season on Saturday, March 8 at 7 p.m. when they host Grand Canyon at the UTPA Fieldhouse. It's senior night, and the Broncs will honor graduate student Javorn Farrell, as well as seniors Jamal Dantzler, Josh Cleveland, Hurley Johnson and Justin Leathers in a special pregame ceremony. Doors open at 6.

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