Jan. 21, 2012

The home teams prevailed in Great West Conference men's basketball action Saturday with NJIT, Chicago State and Utah Valley picking up wins.  NJIT edged Texas-Pan American, 58-57, Chicago State used overtime to defeat Houston Baptist, 98-95, and Utah Valley pulled away late to post a 72-64 win over North Dakota.

NJIT 58, Texas-Pan American 57

NEWARK, N.J. -- Chris Flores scored on a driving double-pump reverse layup along the baseline with four seconds remaining, sending New Jersey Institute of Technology past visiting Texas-Pan American, 58-57, in Great West Conference men's basketball Saturday afternoon.

NJIT (9-9, 2-0 Great West) led all the way from the 7:16 mark of the first half until 28 seconds remained in the game when Texas-Pan American's Jared Maree hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give his team a 57-56 lead.

NJIT took a timeout with 19 seconds left and set up a play that isolated Flores one-on-one against a Bronc defender on the left wing. Flores, a junior guard who would share game scoring honors with 17 points, drove from the wing and approached the basket along the left baseline where his reverse layup spun through the basket. Texas-Pan American then missed on a buzzer shot from half-court.

In addition to Flores' 17 points, the Highlanders, who won their third straight, got 13 points and a game-high seven rebounds from Isaiah Wilkerson and Ryan Woods added 12 points.

Texas-Pan American (6-16, 1-1 Great West) had three double-figure scorers, headed by 17 points for junior point guard Aaron Urbanus. Maree, a senior guard, added 15 points and sophomore forward Josh Cleveland came off the Broncs bench for 13 points--all in the second half.

Texas-Pan American, which played with only seven players in uniform after announcing the one-game suspension of five players for violating team rules, trailed at the half, 31-22.

NJIT scored the first two baskets of the second half to take its biggest lead, 35-22, with 17:45 left. But the Broncs, who controlled the tempo and shot 60 percent from the field in the second half (12-20)--including 5-for-7 on 3-pointers, used a 16-7 run pulling back within four points of the lead, 42-38, after a three for Urbanus.

NJIT stayed on top heading into the final minute, but its biggest lead of the last 12 minutes was nine points, at 55-46 on a PJ Miller free throw with 4:54 left.

Texas-Pan American, with Cleveland scoring six points, followed with an 11-1 run, capped by the go-ahead three at 0:28 from Maree, who was wide open at the top of the key off a pass out from under the basket by Brandon Provost.

The Highlanders, who hadn't made a field goal since a Miller jump shot at 6:06, then got the game-winning bucket on the Flores drive.

Chicago State 98, Houston Baptist 95 (OT)

CHICAGO, Ill. -- Chicago State had five players score in double figures and Houston Baptist had six reach the double figure mark but the Cougars outlasted the Huskies to win in overtime, 98-95, in Great West Conference action today at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center.

The two teams battled through ties at halftime (43-43) and the end of regulation (81-81) before the Cougars outscored the Huskies 17-14 in the extra session.

The game saw 51 fouls called (30 for HBU, 21 for CSU), and although HBU connected on 20-of-22 free throws for the game (91 percent), Chicago State hit 9-of-14 from the charity stripe in the overtime period and 24-of-38 for the game (63 percent) to gain the victory. 

Jeremy Robinson led the Cougars (2-17, 1-1 GWC) with game highs of 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Aaron Williams added 19 points and a career-best 11 rebounds.  Joining Robinson in double figures for CSU were Ardarius Simmons with a career-high 20 points, Matt Samuels with 16 points and Lee Fisher with 12 points.

HBU was led by Terry Bembry with 20 points, while Marcus Davis added a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds.  Also in double figures for the Huskies (6-12, 0-2 GWC) were Anthony Hill and Art Bernardi with 14 points apiece, while Marcel Smith and Tyler Russell added 10 points each.

For the game, Chicago State shot 49 percent on 33-of-68 shooting to 43 percent for HBU (34-of-80).  The Cougars bettered the Huskies from beyond the arc, connecting on 8-of-18 (44 percent) to 7-of-22 (32 percent), while HBU held the rebounding advantage, 49-41, and turnovers were almost equal (16 for HBU, 15 for CSU).

Utah Valley 72, North Dakota 64

OREM, Utah -- Defending GWC champion Utah Valley pulled away late to post a 72-64 victory over North Dakota, the defending GWC Tournament champion, in the Great West Conference opener for both schools Saturday at the UCCU Center.

The game was pushed back an hour to an 8:05 p.m. start due to flight problems that prohibited UND from arriving in Utah until Saturday afternoon.  Despite the travel problems, North Dakota gave Utah Valley all it could handle and enjoyed a 63-62 lead with just under four minutes to play after Aaron Anderson buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key.  The Wolverines (11-10, 1-0 GWC), however, outscored the visitors 11-2 the rest of the way to net the win.

Alfonzo Hubbard scored a career-high 17 points off the bench to pace the home team as four Wolverines reached double figures.  Joining Hubbard in double figures were Holton Hunsaker with 16 points and six assists, Isiah Williams with 12 points, and Keith Thompson with 11.  Geddes Robinson paced the Wolverines on the glass with 13 rebounds.

Troy Huff led UND with 15 points, while Brandon Brekke posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.  Josh Schuler added 12 points off the bench for UND.

After UVU built a 65-62 advantage on a layup from Hunsaker, UND had one more good look from 3-point territory, but Schuler’s attempt from the top of the key with a minute left rattled in and out and UVU would make 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to clinch the victory.

UVU led 34-33 at the break thanks to a 3-pointer by Hubbard with 20 ticks to play. The home team led by as many as seven points in the first half and nine points in the second half only to see UND erase those deficits.

The Wolverines finished 21-for-28 for the game, including a 14-for-16 effort in the second half. UND went just 9-for-16 from the stripe.