Feb. 26, 2007
The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team returned to its winning ways as the Broncs snapped a three-game losing skid with a 70-58 triumph over New Jersey Institute of Technology on Monday (Feb. 26) in Newark, NJ.
The Broncs evened their record to 14-14 on the season and possess a 4-5 record in United Basketball League action. New Jersey Institute of Technology dropped its overall record to 5-22 and 1-6 in UBL competition during the 2006-07 season.
Unlike their previous few games, the Broncs were the ones jumping out to the early lead in the contest as UTPA took a seven-point advantage at 11-4 with 14:43 remaining in the first half following a lay-in by senior Kano Edwards (Bridgeport, CT/Western Nebraska C.C.)
The Highlanders were able to slowly chip away at the UTPA-lead during the next seven minutes of the contest and found themselves down by a point at 16-15 after NJIT forward Marc Swan-Milbourne connected on the back-end of a 1-and-1 at the 8:47 mark.
The Broncs were able to build their lead back up towards the end of the first half as the UTPA defense limited the Highlanders to one field goal in the final 5:53 of the opening frame. In the process, the Broncs found their scoring touch as they went on a 10-3 run to close the first half of action and possessed a 35-24 lead at halftime.
In the second half, the Highlanders were able to get within four points of the UTPA lead at 42-38 with 11:01 remaining in the game after Dan Lewis connected on a baseline jumper off of an assist from Kraig Peters.
Four free throws from UTPA senior Colin Lien (Waterloo, IA/Southeastern C.C.) and a three-pointer off of the hand of Johnathan Chatman (Chicago, IL/Sheridan College) allowed the Broncs to recover and build their lead back to nine points at 49-40 with 8:38 remaining in the game.
In the final eight minutes of the game, the Highlanders were never able to get within six points of the Broncs' lead as UTPA was a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line, including 8-of-8 from junior point guard Paul Stoll (Lansing, MI/Lansing C.C.) during that stretch.
The Broncs had four players finish the game with double-digit scoring performances led by Edwards, who collected a team-high 15 points in the game. The UTPA senior connected on 6-of-8 shots in the game to go along with six rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes of action.
Stoll finished with 14 points on 2-of-4 shooting and 8-of-8 from the free throw line to go along with four rebounds and four assists while Lien ended his game with 14 points, eight rebounds and two assists.
Burrell finished with 10 points in the game while Zach Trader (LaPorte, TX/LaPorte H.S.) collected eight points after coming off of the bench.
The Broncs will conclude their 2006-07 season on the road in Orem, UT, when they square-off against Utah Valley State with game time slated for 7:00 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information