Feb. 6, 2010

It was "Home Sweet Home" in Great West Conference men's basketball Saturday as Chicago State defeated Texas-Pan American, 76-69, and Houston Baptist fell at Utah Valley, 72-66.

Christian Wall and Kabangu Tshinga Kasamba each scored a game-high 18 points in leading Chicago State to the Homecoming victory.

Carl Montgomery posted a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Jonathan Montgomery added nine points. Hajji Martin recorded six rebounds and four points for CSU (7-17, 2-5 GWC).

Aaron Urbanus led Texas-Pan American (3-22, 2-4 GWC) with 17 points, followed by Julius Hearn with 15. Matt Mierzycki posted a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

At Orem, Utah, Jordan Swarbrick scored 21 points, including a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line, to lead the Wolverines over Houston Baptist which entered the game tied for the conference lead at 4-1.

Joining Swarbrick in double figures for Utah Valley were Jourdain Scoubes with 14 points and Aaron England with 13. Swarbrick led UVU on the boards with seven and also posted five assists. Justin Baker recorded a career-high five blocked shots for UVU (11-12, 4-3 GWC)

Utah Valley led by one at the break and in the first nine minutes of the second half the scored was tied five times and the lead changed hands six times with neither team leading by more than four. The Wolverines went up by four at 51-47 on their third straight three-pointer and second straight by Scoubes. At one point, Scoubes scored eight consecutive points.

Tyray Petty drilled a three-pointer with 8:30 left to give the Wolverines their largest lead of the half to that point at 56-50.

UVU's lead was nine with 2:50 left after Scoubes scored five straight - three of which coming on a three-point play, then HBU began to come back, cutting the lead to four with less than a minute left.

The Wolverines connected on 6-of-7 foul shots in the final minute to hold the Huskies at bay.

Five minutes into the game the Wolverines found themselves trailing 11-2. Over the next five minutes the Wolverines whittled away at the lead before cutting the lead to one at 15-14 on a jumper by Swarbrick.

Houston Baptist built its lead back up to nine points with 6:44 left in the half on a lay-up by Wendell Preadom.

The Wolverines, however, held the Huskies scoreless for the next five minutes and turned the deficit into a five-point lead when England drilled a three-pointer with 1:41 left in the half.

In the run, Scoubes drained a three, as did Eric Dearden, and it was his three-ball that tied the score at 25-25. Swarbrick added two foul shots before England dropped the three-ball to give the Wolverines their largest lead of the half.

The Huskies scored the last four points of the half to trim the UVU lead to one, 30-29, at the break.

For the game, Utah Valley shot 44.0 percent from the field while holding HBU to 37.1 percent shooting from the field. The Wolverines also hit 21-of-25 from the foul line. HBU (5-17, 4-2 GWC) held a 42-35 rebounding advantage for the game.

HBU's Miles Dixon led all scorers with a career-high 23 points, including 5-of-7 from long range. Wendell Preadom was the only other Husky in double figures with 15. Andrew Gonzalez and Preadom led HBU on the boards with eight rebounds apiece.