Jan. 4, 2008

Game Notes - Texas State in PDF Format
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Game Information
▪ - The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball program will travel to San Marcos, TX for a match-up against Southland Conference-foe Texas State with tip-off slated for 7 p.m.

▪ - The match-up versus Texas State marks the end of the Broncs 10-game road trip where the men competed in three-tournaments and improved to 8-10 overall after collecting a 76-61 victory over NJIT at the Central Florida Classic.

▪ - This will be the 30th all-time meeting between the Broncs and the Bobcats with UTPA holding onto a 20-9 advantage.

▪ - The trip to San Marcos, TX marks the second meeting this season between the Broncs and the Bobcats. Texas State collected a 102-75 victory at the UTPA Fieldhouse earlier this season.

▪ - Six Bobcats finished in double-digit scoring, including Jonathan Sloan who finished with a game-high 20 points and five rebounds for the Bobcats. In front of a home crowd, Ty Gough collected 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

▪ - For the Broncs, Emmanuel Jones finished with a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes of action in the Broncs setback. Last Game - NJIT (9-3)

▪ - The Broncs couldn't have asked for more as they brought in the New Year with a 76-61 victory over NJIT in the consolation game at the Central Florida Classic on Monday (Dec. 31).

▪ - Five Broncs finished in double-digit scoring, including senior Paul Stoll who earned his second piece of hardware of the season as he was selected to the five-man all-tournament team for his performance in two-games.

▪ - The Broncs improved their overall record to 8-10 on the season while the Highlanders dropped to 0-15.

▪ - The Highlanders jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the opening minutes of the first half but a Dexter Shankle three-pointer tied the game at the 19:09 mark. After several exchange of baskets by both teams, the Broncs were able to take a 10-7 advantage when Shankle connected on his second three of the night with 14:28 left in the first half.

▪ - It was the Broncs the rest of the way as they headed into the locker rooms with a 10-point advantage over NJIT.

▪ - UTPA continued to stomp on the Highlanders offensively as they lead by 20 after a pair of free throws by Emmanuel Jones with 12:16 left in the game. The Highlanders cut the deficit to 13 but that was as close as they would get as the Broncs secured a 76-61 victory at the Central Florida Classic.

▪ - For the game, the Broncs finished shooting 45.9 percent (28-of-61), 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from three-point land, and 75 percent (12-of-16) from the line.

▪ - Behind Stoll, Shankle and Jones each finished with 14 points while Zach Trader collected 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in 28 minutes of action.

▪ - Nathan Hawkins chipped in with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists for the Broncs.

▪ - Leading the way for the Highlanders was Kraig Peters, who collected a game-high 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting, 3-of-6 from three-point range, and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe.

Trio of Broncs Earn All-Tournament Team Honors
▪ - Stoll was selected to the five-man all-tournament team for his outstanding performance at the Missouri State Price Cutter Classic on Nov. 17.

▪ - The floor general finished with a shooting average of 17.5 points to go along with 7.5 assists, 2.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds in two games.

▪ - Burrell was selected to the five-man all-tournament team at the Montana State Bobcat Gran Tree Inn Classic on Dec. 1. Burrell collected a team-high 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 7-of-11 from behind the arc against Pepperdine on Nov. 30.

▪ - Playing in his third tournament this season, Burrell was selected to the five-man all-tournament team at the Drake Regency Challenge Classic for the second time this season.

▪ - The 6'3 senior guard collected 38 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, and four steals in his two-game tournament performance.

▪ - Nathan Hawkins collected his first piece of hardware of his Bronc career as he as was selected to the five-man Las Vegas Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team on Sunday (Dec. 23).

▪ - In his three-game performance, Hawkins collected 48 points and 17 rebounds to go along with a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds against Bethune-Cookman (Dec. 22).

Burrell Looks to Shine in Senior Season
▪ - Senior Brian Burrell had a stellar first season as he appeared in all 29 games this past season, earning a position in the starting lineup on 27 occasions.

▪ - The Bronc junior finished the season averaging a team-high 15.6 points to go along with 5.1 rebounds per game, Burrell connected on 43.3 percent (161-of-372) of his attempts from the field, 39.9 percent (81-of-203) of his three-point field goal tries and 87.5 percent (49-of-56) of his shots from the charity stripe.

▪ - The Bronc guard collected 10 or more points in 25 of 29 games and scored 20 or more points on eight occasions while leading the program in scoring in 15 of 29 games.

▪ - Burrell was selected as the United Basketball League Newcomer of the Year as the UTPA guard was the top vote-getter among all UBL first-year players while also earning a trip to both the UBL First Team and All-Newcomer Team.

Record Setting Five Tournaments
▪ - The Broncs will compete in five tournaments throughout the 2007-08 season. UTPA will make its first stop in Springfield, MO, where the Broncs will sqaure-off against UNC-Greensboro in the first round of the two-day affair.

▪ - UTPA will next travel to the Missouri State University Tournament where they will match-up against West Coast Conference-foe Pepperdine, Montana State, Alcorn State and Western Illinois in the three-day event.

▪ - The Broncs will then set their sights on a tournament championship at the Drake University Tournament in Des Moines, IA, followed by the most spectacular highlight of the season for the Broncs as they will be a part of the Las Vegas Classic for a quartet of games.

▪ - To close out the calendar year, the Broncs will travel to the UCF Holiday Tournament for the second straight season where UTPA advanced to the championship game during the 2006-07 campaign.

▪ - The Broncs will hit the floor against Long Island University in the first round of the tournament before facing off against either University of Central Florida or New Jersey Institute of Technology on the final day of action.

UTPA Adds Hawkins, Nephew of Former NBA Hall of Fame Player
▪ - The basketball gene pool runs deep in the Hawkins' family as his father (Robert) played in the NBA for the Golden State Warriors and his brother (Robert) played his collegiate basketball at St. Mary's University.

▪ - Hawkins is the nephew of NBA Hall of Fame standout George Gervin as well as cousin of former NBA player Derrick Gervin.

▪ - San Antonio, TX product, Hawkins was a standout at Sandra Day O'Connor High School where he was a first team all-region and first team All-District 28-5A selection during his senior campaign.

▪ - Hawkins attended The Lawrenceville Prep School where he was selected as the number-four post guard by New Jersey Hoops. Averaged 14.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game en route to earning Most Valuable Player honors.

Trip to Far East One of Success
▪ - The Broncs floor general returns for his final season after spending the month of June playing Internationaly in China. Stoll made the trip to the Far East with the Sports Reach Program where he played against members of the CBA Top Division.

▪ - Making his first start for the Crusaders, Stoll had the second-highest point total on the squad with 15 points. The UTPA senior put on a deep-range shooting clinic as he went 5-for-7 from the field, including 5-for-6 from behind the arc while recording a team high four steals in the contest.

▪ - Stoll let his teammates do the talking for him offensively in the team's third game as the Crusader's had five players scoring in double figures to earn the 89-61 victory over the Tigers. The UTPA floor general recorded seven assists while only turning over the ball on just one occasion to go along with seven steals in the contest

▪ - The UTPA point guard was the only player on the Crusaders' squad that was not a member of a program affiliated with the SEC.

Trader Brothers Take The Court This Season
▪ - For the first time in family history Zach and Jacob Trader will be teaming up to dominate the inside post positions. This will be the first time the two brothers have ever played on a team together and this also marks the first time in UTPA men's basketball history.

▪ - As an experienced college standout Zach Trader will be looking to lead by example for his team as well as his brother. Trader concluded his junior campaign averaging a career-high 7.9 points per game to go along with 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

▪ - After red-shirting the 06-07 season, Jacob Trader will be looking to his senior, older brother for guidance in his first year of Division I collegiate basketball.

Scouting the Opponent - Texas State (7-5)
▪ - The Bobcats are coming off a 113-87 blowout victory over Paul Quinn in the SMU Holiday Classic on (Dec. 30). Texas State improved to 7-5 overall and is 3-1 on its home floor.

▪ - Five Bobcats finished in double-figures in the win and finished three-points shy of tying the all-time school record for highest points scored in a game set Dec. 6, 1980 against Texas Lutheran.

▪ - The battle of the boards was won by the Bobcats as they collected 58 to the Tigers 42 and forced 23 turnovers.

▪ - For the game, the Bobcats finished shooting 47.7 percent (42-of-88) from the field to Paul Quinn's 35.5 percent (27-of-74) from the floor.

▪ - Brandon Bush leads the Bobcats averaging 26.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Bush has collected 10 or more points in nine of the Bobcats 12 games this season.

▪ - Valley native Ty Gough ranks second in rebounds behind Bush averaging 6.2 per game. Gough finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds against Paul Quinn.

▪ - The Bobcats two of five losses have come against Big 12 opponents University of Texas and Texas A&M University.

UTPA Sports Information