Jan. 8, 2008

A team effort by The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball program led to a dramatic 71-63 victory at the UTPA Fieldhouse on Tuesday evening.

With the victory, the Broncs improved their overall record to 10-10 on the season and are riding on a three-game win streak. UTSA drops to 6-7 overall and 0-6 on the road.

Three Broncs finished in double-figures and eight of the 13 players donning the Green and Orange contributed three points or more.

It was a tight contest throughout the earlier minutes of the first half until a three-pointer by newcomer Nick Weiermiller (Elmira, NY/ Elmira Free Academy) at the 7:28 mark gave the Broncs a eight point advantage, making the score 20-12.

UTSA's Travis Gabbidon's 19 points in the first half kept the Roadrunners in striking distance as they cut the deficit to one point, 23-22 with 5:15 remaining in the first half.

Junior Emmanuel Jones (Washington, DC/ Riverside City College) connected on a jumper to put the Broncs back on top by three but a dunk by Gabbidon made it 25-24 and silenced UTPA in the final two minutes of the first half.

In the opening minutes of the second half, the Roadrunners were able to connect on several buckets to take a four point lead following a three-pointer by Joey Shank at the 17:16 mark.

The Broncs continued to fight as they were down by as many as five points with 11:36 remaining in the game until a combined effort by Nathan Hawkins (San Antonio, TX/ Moberly Area Community College), Paul Stoll (Lansing, MI/ Lansing C.C.), and Danny Puente (McAllen, TX/ McAllen Memorial H.S.) tied the game at 47-47.

UTPA was able to retake the lead after Stoll connected on his fourth three of the night, making the score 54-51 with 5:53 remaining in the game. Gaddidon continued to hit from all angles of the court as he fired his fifth three-pointer of the night, tying the game at 57-57 with 4:08 left in the game.

A solid team effort by the Broncs in the three minutes of the game proved to be too much for the Roadrunners to handle as they secured a 71-63 home victory and extended their win streak to three-games.

The Broncs finished the game shooting 48.9 percent (23-of-47) shooting, 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from behind the arc, and 70 percent (14-of-20) from the free throw line.

Stoll finished with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting, 4-of-8 from behind the arc, and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, to go along with six assists, three rebounds, two steals and one block in 36 minutes of action.

Zach Trader (LaPorte, TX/ LaPorte H.S.) collected 14 points, a team-high six rebounds, and three assists while Puente chipped in with 12 points to go along with three assists for the Broncs.

Gibbidon was the only Roadrunner to finish in double-figures as he collected a game-high 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting, 5-of-7 from three-point range, and 2-of-5 from the free throw line, including a game-high nine rebounds and three steals in 33 minutes of play.

The Broncs will continue to enjoy their time in the confines of the UTPA Fieldhouse as they welcome Huston-Tillotson on Wednesday (Jan. 16) with tip-off slated for 7 p.m.

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