Jan. 28, 2012

The road remained unkind to teams in the Great West Conference Saturday as the home teams protected their territories and claimed the wins. North Dakota picked up a 71-61 win over Chicago State, Texas-Pan American defeated Houston Baptist, 81-71, and NJIT fell at Utah Valley, 81-58. In the first two weekends of conference action, the home teams hold a 9-1 record with Texas-Pan American claiming the only road win at Chicago State in the GWC opener.

North Dakota 71, Chicago State 61

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Patrick Mitchell equaled his season high with six 3-pointers and Troy Huff added a double-double to lead North Dakota past Chicago State 71-61 in Great West Conference action Saturday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.

Mitchell finished with a team-high 18 points, connecting on a trio of 3-pointers in each half, while Huff scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half to help UND even its record at 10-10 and improve to 2-1 in GWC play. The visiting Cougars fell to 1-3 in league play and 2-19 overall. It was the seventh straight home win for UND, who is now 10-1 in front of their fans this season.

Brandon Brekke made seven of nine field goals to finish with 16 points. It was the fifth straight double-figure scoring game for Brekke, who is 29-for-37 from the field during that stretch.

Jamal Webb rounded out a quartet of double-figure scorers for the home team with 10 points. Huff's double-double was his second double-double of the season as eight of his 10 rebounds also came in the second half. He and Mitchell, who added eight boards, helped UND hold a 42-38 edge in that category.

Brekke scored five of his points during an 8-0 run to start the game that would turn out to be pivotal as UND could never put the pesky Cougars away. Mitch Wilmer's jumper in the paint gave UND its largest lead of the half with just over five minutes to play, but CSU point guard Ardarius Simmons had five points down the stretch to keep his club within single digits at the break.

UND's lead was only 31-22 despite holding Chicago State to just 22 field goal attempts and forcing 13 turnovers.

The Cougars only had four turnovers in the second half and cut their deficit to seven points following a 3-pointer by Lee Fisher with just over 12 minutes to play forcing UND to call a timeout. North Dakota regrouped and came out with five quick points as Brekke made a layup and Mitchell buried a 3-pointer to quickly push the lead back to double digits.

Fisher finished with a game-high 20 points, but his team fell behind by as many as 17 thanks to a pair of timely 3-pointers by the home team. A late run by the Cougars trimmed the deficit to single digits again, but UND finished off the GWC weekend sweep with a late free throw to secure the 10-point win.

Simmons added 18 points for the Cougars as he and Fisher combined for 28 of the team's 39 second-half points.

Huff added a game-high five assists to go with his double-double, while Webb, Brekke and Mitchell all added a trio of blocks in the contest. The nine blocks by UND were a season-high.

Texas-Pan American 81, Houston Baptist 71

EDINBURG, Texas -- Texas-Pan American went on a 15-3 run late in the second half to pull away from Houston Baptist for an 81-71 victory in Great West Conference action Saturday night at UTPA Fieldhouse.

Brandon Provost hit three 3-pointers and finished with 23 points for UTPA (7-16, 2-1 GWC), while Jared Maree went 8-of-9 from the free-throw line and finished with 14 points. Earl Jefferson had 13 points, while Enique Mason led the Broncs with six rebounds.

Terry Bembry led HBU (6-14, 0-3 GWC) with 17 points and four rebounds, while Tyler Russell went 7-of-11 from the floor and finished with 16 points off the bench. Marcus Davis had 15 points for the Huskies, who were without their second-leading scorer, junior forward Art Bernardi, who was out with an injury.

HBU shot 53 percent from the field for the game, including 4-of-8 from behind the arc, while UTPA shot 46 percent, including 8-of-17 from long range. The Huskies went 17-for-20 from the free-throw line, but the Broncs went 23-for-32 from the stripe. HBU turned the ball over 21 times, compared to UTPA's 17, and were outrebounded, 30-29, including giving up 16 offensive boards to the Broncs.

Neither team scored for the first three minutes of the second half, until Davis made a spin move for a layup and followed with a long jumper to give the Huskies their first lead of the game, 41-40, with 16:14 remaining. Provost answered with the Broncs' first basket 4:25 into the half to reclaim the lead, but Davis, hit another long jumper, just inside the 3-point line.

The lead continued to change hands as Provost made another layup, but Davis hit a pair of free throws to put HBU back on top. Provost made his third-straight basket, then Jefferson got free on a fast-break layup to put UTPA ahead, 48-45, with 13:55 to go. Davis tied the game with a three from the top of the key, but Josh Cleveland's jump hook regained the advantage for the Broncs. HBU senior center Joe Latas grabbed and offensive rebound and got the putback to tie it, but Jesus Delgado nailed a three. Russell answered for the Huskies with a baseline jumper, but Provost got inside for another layup to give UTPA a 55-52 lead with 11:39 to go.

Russell trimmed the deficit to one with a baseline jumper, but Maree and Ruben Cabrera each hit a pair of free throws to extend the Broncs' lead back to five. Bembry sank a couple of free throws, but Delgado came back with a reverse layup. Maree converted a three-point play to put UTPA ahead, 65-57, with 6:08 remaining in the game, and Urbanus made a couple of free throws to make it a 10-point advantage.

Jefferson and Provost each hit threes as UTPA led by as many as 16 in the closing minutes, until a three by junior guard Anthony Hill and a layup by Bembry cut it to 10.

The Broncs opened the game on a 7-0 run, courtesy of a three by Delgado, a putback layup Mason and a pair of free throws by Maree, before Bembry got the Huskies on the board with a layup. A long jumper by Davis and a pair of free throws by Russell cut the Broncs' edge to 12-10 at the 14:30 mark, but UTPA scored the next nine, which included a three by Aaron Urbanus, to take an 11-point lead. HBU responded by scoring with a 9-0 run of its own on a jumper by Bembry, a three by freshman guard Marcel Smith, and back-to-back buckets by Russell to get back to within two once again with 8:56 remaining.

Jefferson hit a three to push UTPA's lead back to seven with 4:53 to go in the first half, but HBU scored the next six on a layup by Russell, a free throw by Smith and a 3-pointer by freshman forward Dustin Hobaugh to make it a one-point game with 1:54 left. Provost hit a pair of threes in the final minute, but Bembry hit a pair of baskets to trim the Broncs' lead to 40-37 at the half.

Utah Valley 81, NJIT 58

OREM, Utah -- Geddes Robinson matched a single-game school record for rebounds and several others also had big nights as Utah Valley University defeated NJIT, 81-58 on Saturday night in the UCCU Center.

Robinson finished with 12 points and 18 boards as the Wolverines (13-10, 3-0 GWC) outrebounded the Highlanders (9-11, 2-2 GWC) 55-27 overall. The Wolverines had 20 rebounds on the offensive glass, leading to a 22-6 edge in second-chance points.

UVU's Isiah Williams scored 26, Holton Hunsaker added 19 and Keith Thompson chipped in 12. The starting guards, Williams and Hunsaker, each set career highs in rebounds with six and seven, respectively. The two also combined to hit nine of the team's 11 treys with five coming from Hunsaker.

Robinson's double-double was his 10th of the year, surpassing is record-total of nine set a season ago. The senior already owns the program's career rebound total record.

UVU used the 3-point shot in the first half to build a 13-point lead by the break. The Wolverines combined to hit eight in the game's first 20 minutes, three each by Williams and Hunsaker and two by Taylor Brown. Brown's second trey beat the halftime buzzer and made it 38-25 at the mid-way point.

The closest NJIT would get in the second half was eight, 54-46, with 11:18 remaining. From there Robinson hit a pair of free throws and Hunsaker sank a three to push the lead back to 13. The advantage remained in double digits the rest of the way.

Utah Valley put the game out of reach with an 8-1 run, increasing the lead to 20 with just under five minutes to go and would lead by as much as 24 late.

Isaiah Wilkerson led NJIT with 19 while Chris Flores added 17 and led the Highlanders in rebounding with eight.