Dec. 29, 2004
Before the start of the game, it was a reunion of sorts for UNLV head coach Lon Kruger, who coached the UT - Pan American men's basketball team from 1982-86.
However - it was all business on the court as the Runnin' Rebels put together a strong second half showing en route to defeating the Broncs, 74-54, in Las Vegas, NV, on Thursday (Dec. 29).
With the score tied at 32 a piece at halftime, UNLV came out in the second half and outscored the Broncs by 20 points in large part due to a 50.0 percent (15-30) shooting performance from the floor. UTPA shot a mere 33.3 percent (8-24) in that half.
The Runnin' Rebels defense stifled the UTPA offense in the second half, forcing the Broncs to commit 18 turnovers which resulted in 24 points for the home team compared to only three turnover points for the Valley's team.
Romel Beck scored a game-high 15 points along with four rebounds while Jerel Blassingame added 13 points and five assists. Louis Amundson, UNLV's man in the middle, recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with three blocked shots. He became the first player in 10 games to record 10 or more boards against the Broncs.
Senior Eric Montalvo (La Joya, TX/La Joya High School) scored 12 points and added five rebounds and three assists while Derrick East (Binger, OK/Lookeba-Sickles High School) and Matt Berry (Tulsa, OK/Indiana State University) each collected 12 points of their own. Chris Fagan (Bronx, NY/Trinidad State College) finished the game with 10 points, five rebounds and a trio of assists.
The bench play of the Runnin' Rebels played a huge part in the game, finishing with 32 points compared to the Broncs' 12 points off the pine. The Broncs won the battle of the boards, holding a 42-36 advantage, but UTPA stumbled in its second chance points with only eight points off of 11 offensive rebounds.
UNLV improved its record to 6-4 with the victory at home. The Broncs fell to 7-4, including dropping to 0-3 in games away from the UTPA Fieldhouse.
The Broncs will be back in action on Friday (Dec. 31) against Big Ten opponent Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information
