Feb. 4, 2006
Kano Edwards (Bridgeport, CT/Western Nebraska C.C.) recorded his second consecutive double-double (points-rebounds) as the UTPA junior collected 11 points and 13 rebounds en route to leading the Broncs to a 62-44 against St. Edward's University in a Saturday (Feb. 4) afternoon matinee at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
Two days earlier, Edwards posted a double-double against Texas A&M - International after finishing with 17 points and a season-high 13 rebounds.
The Broncs, who notched their second consecutive victory, knew that they would be in for a dogfight against the Hilltoppers, who came into the contest as one of the top Division II programs in the country.
"I'm very happy with our performance out there today," said head coach Robert Davenport. "They have so many players that are in the same mold that fit their style that they can reload and restack at will. I thought that our guys did a tremendous job of handling that issue, and we were able to step up the defensive pressure and that really changed the momentum of the game."
In the early goings of the contest, the Hilltoppers were able to take advantage of the Broncs by building a five-point advantage, 15-10, at the 10:32 mark in the first half. UTPA proceeded to go on a 13-0 run over the next seven minutes and took a 23-15 advantage over St. Edward's with 5:14 remaining before intermission.
However - the Hilltoppers would not go away easily as they scrapped their way back into the game and tied the score for the fourth time in the half at 24-24 with 2:12 remaining in the first frame. At the end of the frame, the Broncs were able to gain a 26-24 advantage following a lay-in by their center Colin Lien (Waterloo, IA/Southwestern C.C.) with six seconds left.
In the second half, the Broncs and Hilltoppers continued to exchange field goals while playing at an extremely physical manner. Following a technical foul on the St. Edward's bench, the momentum shift went into the favor of UTPA as the Broncs went on a 21-9 run to up their lead to 17 points at 56-39 with 4:45 remaining in the contest.
The Broncs continued to pile on their lead in large part to the fouls of St. Edward's, which sent UTPA to the charity stripe 10 times in the final four minutes of the game. During that span, the Broncs were able to connect on eight of those attempts and built their lead to 20 points at 62-42 with less than one minute remaining in the game. UTPA would go into the locker room with a 62-44 triumph.
The Broncs held a big advantage in points in the paint, 32-16, thanks to Lien, a 6-11 center, and Edwards, a 6-9 forward. Lien finished the game with 14 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes of action.
Larry Sheppard (Baton Rouge, LA/Iowa Western C.C.) finished with a game-high 15 points on 5-7 shooting and 5-6 from the free throw line while Zach Trader (LaPorte, TX/LaPorte H.S.) also posted double figures with 11 points in 21 minutes of action. Dexter Shankle (Katy, TX/James E. Taylor H.S.) added nine points for the Broncs.
The Hilltoppers, who came into the contest averaging 77.8 points per game and scored 80 or more points in eight of their last 10 games, were held to a season-low 44 points. The Broncs' defense forced St. Edward's to shoot 26.8 percent (15-56) for the game while committing 21 turnovers.
With the victory, the Broncs improved their record to 7-17 while St. Edward's dropped to 15-5 on the season.
The Broncs will be back in action at home on Thursday (Feb. 9) against Utah Valley State with game time set for 7:30 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information
