Dec. 29, 2006
The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball program has already made big strides under first-year head coach Tom Schuberth during the 2006-07 campaign.
Now - the Broncs will have an opportunity to make a statement of their revival as UTPA advanced to the championship game of the UCF Holiday Classic with a 70-57 victory over James Madison on Thursday (Dec. 29) in Orlando, FL.
With the victory, Schuberth will square-off against his former mentor in Kirk Speraw, and the Broncs will hit the floor against his former squad in Central Florida on Saturday (Dec. 30) with tip-off set for 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Before the UTPA earned an opportunity to hit the court with Central Florida, the Broncs had to take care of business against the Dukes. In the first game of the UCF Holiday Classic, the Broncs made a statement from the opening tip to the final buzzer as they dominated the game while surrendering the lead on two occasions with the last time coming at the 16:19 mark in the first half.
During the first 20 minutes of action, the Broncs put on a clinic against the Dukes as they were able to build a nine-point advantage at 24-15 with 11:15 left in the first half after Zach Trader (LaPorte, TX/LaPorte H.S.) connected on a lay-in in the paint.
The Broncs increased their lead to 10 points late in the first half at 33-23 following a Brian Burrell (Nacogdoches, TX/Paris J.C.) lay-in after he grabbed an offensive rebound off of a missed three-pointer by Paul Stoll (Lansing, MI/Lansing C.C.) with 2:58 remaining in the half.
The Dukes wouldn't go away quietly as they went on a 10-2 run to close the half and cut the Broncs' lead to two points at 35-33 following a three-pointer off of the hands of Terrance Carter. Despite the late breakdown, the Broncs held a 35-33 lead over James Madison at halftime.
In the second half, James Madison was able to tie the score at 37-37 with 16:35 remaining in the game after Juwann James connected on a jumper from the baseline. On the next possession, Colin Lien (Waterloo, IA/Southeastern C.C.) would convert on his own miss, which would allow the Broncs to begin an 8-0 run to take a 45-37 lead with 13:00 left in the game.
The pesky Dukes continued to hang close with the Broncs as they closed the lead to three points at 52-49 at the 8:30 mark following a lay-in by Joe Posey. That would be the last field goal that the Dukes would make throughout the remainder of the game.
The Broncs would close the game on an 18-8 run to secure their place in the championship game with a 70-57 victory over James Madison.
Burrell finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting to go along with nine rebounds, three steals and two assists in 39 minutes of action.
Lien recorded a double-double for the Broncs with 10 points and 12 rebounds while Dexter Shankle (Katy, TX/James E. Taylor H.S.) collected 13 points, four rebounds and two assists in 33 minutes of action.
Stoll also added an all-around stout performance with 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers, to go along with six assists, three rebounds and three steals in 35 minutes of action.
The Broncs improved their record to 8-5 on the season while James Madison fell to 2-8 on the 2006-07 campaign.
UTPA Sports Information
