Jan. 30, 2006
The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team (5-17) continued its road woes on Monday (Jan. 30) in Greeley, CO as they dropped their fourth-straight game to the Northern Colorado Bears (3-21), 86-49.
The Broncs opened the game strong, keeping the score tight until the Bears were able to pull to a six-point advantage, 22-16. UNC slowly built their lead to 12 during first half, largely a result of 56 percent shooting from the field. Junior posts Colin Lien (Waterloo, IA/Southeastern C.C.) and Kano Edwards (Bridgeport, CT/Western Nebraska C.C.) accounted for a large majority of the Broncs points during the first half, scoring 12 and 10 respectively.
UTPA shot well during the first half, connecting on 48 percent from the field but made six less shots than UNC. Despite both teams turning the ball over seven times each, the Bears managed to score 12 points of Bronc miscues while UTPA scored just two points off turnovers during the first stanza.
The Bears came out of the locker room and opened the second half with a 9-0 run for a 21-point lead, 53-32. The Broncs could not keep up with the Bears offensive attack as they finished the night with a 56 percent shooting mark from the field. Northern Colorado poured in 42 points in the second frame while the Broncs could only muster 17. The Bears out-rebounded the Broncs 31-12 in the second half and 49-24 for the game.
Lien finished the night with 15 points on 6-10 shooting from the field. He also recorded five rebounds and one block while hitting 3-7 from the charity stripe. Edwards shot 4-10 from the floor for 15 points on the night. The junior scored seven points from the free throw line on 10 attempts and led the team in rebounding with seven boards.
Larry Sheppard (Baton Rouge, LA/Iowa Western C.C.) turned in another solid performance at the point for UTPA, with five assists and eight points.
The Bears had five players finish the game scoring in double-digits en route to their second-highest point total of the season. UNC was led in scoring by Kirk Archibeque, who ended the night with a game-high 16 points.
UNC hurt the Broncs with 17 second-chance points off 15 offensive rebounds and scored 19 points off turnovers in the game. The Bears also dominated inside against UTPA, scoring over half their points, 46, in the paint.
The Broncs return to Edinburg for a midweek match-up with the Texas A&M International Dustdevils on Thursday (Feb. 2) at 7:30 p.m. at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
UTPA Sports Information
