March 3, 2007

The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team dropped a 66-57 decision to Utah Valley State in the season finale of the 2006-07 campaign in Orem, UT, on Saturday (Mar. 3).

In the first half of action, the Broncs were able to jump on the Wolverines by a six-point advantage at 13-7 with 12:28 remaining in the opening frame after Colin Lien (Waterloo, IA/Southeastern C.C.) was able to connect on a jumper in the paint.

Chris Bailey got the Wolverines back in control of the scoreboard at the 5:09 mark when he connected on a lay-in off of a pass from UVSC senior David Heck. In the first half of action, neither team was able to build a lead of six or more points, and there were five total lead changes in the frame.

With the score knotted at 23-23 with a few seconds left on the clock, Joe Walker was able to grab a Heck-missed three-pointer and convert it into two points as time expired. The late frame basket gave the Wolverines a 25-23 advantage heading into the locker room.

In the second half of action, the Broncs were able to take the lead prior to the first media timeout when Dexter Shankle (Katy, TX/James E. Taylor H.S.) connected on a three-pointer to give UTPA a 30-27 lead with 16:56 remaining in the game.

However - Utah Valley State proceeded to go on an 11-1 run over the next three minutes and took a 38-31 lead with 14:05 remaining in the game following a jumper by Ryan Toolson. Toolson scored a game-high for Utah Valley State as the UVSC senior posted 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting to go along with two rebounds and two steals.

The Wolverines took a 12-point advantage with 9:52 remaining in the game after Walker took a pass from Toolson for the easy lay-in to make the score 49-37. The Broncs failed to go away silently in the game as UTPA battled back to get within six points at 59-53 with 1:45 left in the game after Julius Allgood (Marion, AL/Southern Union State C.C.) connected on a lay-in off of a pass from Lien.

In the final two minutes of the game, Utah Valley State was able to convert on 7-of-8 free throws en route to securing the 66-57 victory on their home court on Senior Night for the Wolverines.

Lien led the Broncs in the scoring department as the UTPA senior finished with a team-high 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and two assists in 31 minutes of action.

Brian Burrell (Nacogdoches, TX/Paris J.C.) added 12 points, four rebounds, one steal and one assist for the Broncs while Shankle collected 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting to go along with two rebounds and one assist in 31 minutes of action.

As a team, UTPA finished the game connecting on 44.7 percent (21-of-47) of its attempts while Utah Valley State connected on 46.8 percent (22-of-47) of its attempts on the home court. The Wolverines held advantages over the Broncs in three-pointers (8-4), assists (14-11), blocked shots (8-0) and steals (7-4).

With the setback, the Broncs dropped their overall record to 14-15 during the season, including a 4-6 mark in United Basketball League Action. The victory for the Wolverines allowed them to record their school-record 22nd triumph of the season and the United Basketball League team championships.

UTPA Sports Information