Feb. 27, 2008

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Game Information
▪ - The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball program will look for its 18th win of the season as they face-off against Savannah State in Chatham County, GA on Thursday (Feb. 28) with game-time slated for 6:05 p.m.

▪ - The Broncs are coming off an 67-60 victory against Cal State-Bakersfield on Friday (Feb.22). With the win the Broncs clinched the best record in independent basketball and will look to add one more victory under their belt on Thursday.

▪ - UTPA improved to 17-13 overall while the Runners' fell to 8-19 on the season.

▪ - The contest with the Tigers will mark the third all-time meeting in school history. The Broncs own a 2-0 record and both teams first met in the 2003 season where UTPA collected a 45-39 victory in Savannah, GA.

▪ - The game will be broadcast on audiosportsonline.net with Broncs' play-by-play announcer Jonah Goldberg. Pre-game coverage begins at 8:50 p.m.

Last Game - Cal-State Bakersfield
▪ - The Broncs recorded their 17th win of the season in a 67-60 victory over Cal State-Bakersfield on Friday (Feb.22) in Bakersfield, CA.

▪ - The Broncs finished the game shooting 46 percent connecting on 23-of-50 shots compared to 40 percent 22-of-55 buckets for the Runners'.

▪ - Point guard Paul Stoll finished with 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting, 4-of-7 from behind the arc, a perfect 6-of-6 charity stripe to go with five assists and three steals while Zach Trader and Emmanuel Jones each collected 17 points apiece.

▪ - CSUB led 25-24 at the half and stayed within two possessions of the lead until UTPA went on an 8-0 run inside the last six minutes to pull away. The Broncs eventually built their lead to as many as 13 points before Bakersfield pulled closer in the final minute.

▪ - Donavan Bragg scored 17 of his team-high 19 points in the second half to help keep the 'Runners in the game until late. Johns came off the bench to add 14 points.

Career Milestone Watch
▪ - Brian Burrell ranks third in three-pointers made with 154, trailing Lalo Rios' (95-99) total of 207.

▪ - Dexter Shankle has hit 130 threes, placing him sixth, just four back of Kevin Mitchell (01-03) and John Braxton (98-01)

▪ - Paul Stoll ranks seventh in three-pointers with 124, trailing Shankle by six.

▪ - Burrell has attempted 408 treys, ranking him third behind Rios' 651.

▪ - Shankle has shot 343 threes, placing him seventh. Next is Mitchell's 351.

▪ - Stoll boasts the highest three-point shooting percentage (minimum 250 attempts) at .444, well ahead of Lee Boddie's (87-90) .408.

▪ - Stoll's 367 assists rank him sixth behind Rios' 444.

▪ - Zach Trader needs to hit one more free throw to tie Marshall Rogers (74-76) for eighth with 289. Next is Kevin Johnson (84-88) at 302.

▪ - Trader's 385 free throw attempts also trail Johnson by four for seventh.

▪ - Trader is eighth in minutes played at 2,469. Braxton ranks seventh (2,612).

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 all-tournament team at the Montana State Bobcat Gran Tree Inn Classic on Dec. 1. Burrell scored a team-high 23 points on 8-14 shooting and 7-11 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).

Broncs Sizzle on National Stage
▪ - Leading the way for the Broncs is senior guard Paul Stoll who ranks first in the nation in total assists with 213. He is also third in assists per game at 7.3.

▪ - Stoll is tied for ninth with 73 total steals and 15th at 2.5 per game.

▪ - Stoll boasts the 43rd best assist:turnover ratio at 2.22.

▪ - Stoll's .845 free throw percentage is 57th.

▪ - Stoll's .462 three-point field goal percentage is 11th.

▪ - Brian Burrell is ranked 94th in three-point field goal percentage at .356

▪ - Stoll is also 72nd in three-pointers per game at 2.7.

▪ - Zach Trader's .508 field goal percentage is 92nd in the nation.

▪ - As a team, the Broncs are 8th in points (2,140), 12th in assist:turnover ratio (1.33), 19th in assists per game (17.3), 27th in three-point field goal percentage (.396), 53rd in turnovers per game (13.0), 57th in field goal percentage (.466), 59th in three-pointers per game (8.0), 87th in points per game (73.8) & 90th in free throw percentage (.715) out of 328 ranked teams.

Stoll Selected as Independent Player of the Week
▪ - Paul Stoll was selected as the Independent Player of the Week on Monday (Jan. 28), following his efforts in wins over Houston Baptist and NJIT.

▪ - Stoll had one of his best weeks ever, leading the Broncs to their sixth straight win by averaging 23 pts, 5 rebs, 7.5 assists, and 5 steals per game.

▪ - Stoll scored a career-high 37 points on 7-9 shooting, all from three-point range, a perfect 16-16 from the foul line, to go with seven rebounds, and nine assists in 36 minutes in an 82-68 victory against Houston Baptist (Jan. 23).

▪ - The 37 points by Stoll is the highest point total by any Bronc since February 11, 2002 when Mire Chapmen dropped 44 points over New Mexico State. Stoll was seven points shy of ranking among the top-ten in most points scored in a game.

▪ - The 5'11 guard recorded a career-high free throws made, rebounds, and tied his mark of field-goals made. Stoll finished with another career night against NJIT (Jan. 26) when he recorded a career-high nine steals to go with nine points, six assists, and three rebounds in a 54-42 win.

Senior Floor General Featured on ESPN
▪ - After leading the Broncs to an 82-68 victory against Houston Baptist last night at the UTPA Fieldhouse, senior guard Paul Stoll was featured on ESPN-Men's Basketball Around the Rim.

▪ - Stoll recorded a career-high 37 points on 7-of-9 shooting, 7-of-9 from three-point range, and a perfect 16-of-16 from the charity stripe, to go along with seven rebounds, and nine assists in 36 minutes of action.

▪ - The 5'11 guard recorded a career-high free throws made, rebounds, and tied his mark of field-goals made. Stoll has finished in double-figures in the Broncs last six games averaging 18.7 points and seven assists per game.

▪ - The 37 points by Stoll is the highest point total by any Bronc since February 11, 2002 when Mire Chatman dropped 44 points over New Mexico State. The floor general was seven points shy of ranking among the top-ten in most points scored in a game.

Changing of the Guard
▪ - In the Broncs 86-68 win over Cal-State Bakersfield on February 12th, the Broncs subbed out all of their seniors for freshmen and sophomores in the closing minutes.

▪ - Damon Franklin and Steve Silva hit their first career three-pointers in relief of the seniors.

▪ - Paul Stoll put a punctuation mark on his UTPA Fieldhouse career before exiting, hitting a three-pointer from about 40-feet out. It was his final touch at home.

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

Scouting the Opponent - Savannah State
▪ - Savannah State is coming off a 63-60 buzzer beater three-pointer victory over Stetson on Tuesday (Feb. 19) at the Edmunds Center.

▪ - Chris Linton hit the three-pointer at the buzzer to improve Savannah State to 13-17 overall.

▪ - Linton led the Tigers with 13 points and Anthony Jones added 12.

▪ - The Tigers led 18-13 with 7:52 on the clock but Stetson rallied to go ahead 23-20 with 1:40 left before admission.

▪ - Stetson out-rebounded SSU 37 to 25 and was 21-of-30 from the free throw line. The Tigers made 10 of their 14 free throw attempts.

▪ - SSU shot 52 percent from the field in the second period and 45 percent for the game.

▪ - The Tigers are led by Joseph Flegler averaging nine points per game while Lasarius Coleman leads the team in rebounding with 5.9.

▪ - The Tigers own a 9-3 record on their home court.

UTPA Sports Information