Dec. 18, 2006
Box Score
Those who grew up as football enthusiasts in the Midwest will always remember the 1980 Cleveland Browns, who were passionately nicknamed The Kardiac Kids for their last-second heroics on the gridiron.
Those in South Texas who have supported The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team religiously during the 2006-07 season can affectionately declare the Broncs by the same nickname on the hardwood.
For the second consecutive contest in the Rio Grande Valley, UTPA overcame a big deficit in the first half en route to securing a victory on their home court in the final seconds as the Broncs captured a 46-44 triumph over Stephen F. Austin on Monday (Dec. 18).
For the majoring of the evening, the Lumberjacks stuck strong to their game plan of taking away the outside threat of the Broncs and forcing UTPA to beat them under the basket. The game plan worked perfectly for Stephen F. Austin on the outside as UTPA only connected on a trio of three-pointers, but the Lumberjacks couldn't contain the inside presence of Colin Lien (Waterloo, IA/Southeastern C.C.) and Zach Trader (LaPorte, TX/LaPorte H.S.).
The combination of Lien and Trader proved to be too much for the Lumberjacks as they combined to score of 50 percent of the Broncs' points on Monday evening. Lien finished with a team-high 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting while Trader added 12 points with a perfect 8-of-8 performance from the free throw line.
The biggest shot of the evening came off of the hands of Lien as the UTPA center was able to take a pass from point guard Paul Stoll (Lansing, MI/Lansing C.C.) in the paint and muscle in a connection to give the Broncs a 46-44 advantage with four seconds remaining in the contest.
The Lumberjacks had an opportunity at the end of the game to either win or go to overtime, but the relentless defense of the Broncs did not allow Stephen F. Austin to get an open look at the basket as the buzzer sounded at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
For those in attendance at the UTPA Fieldhouse, fans were treated to a contest that featured a pair of teams on the rise in a highly-competitive contest that consisted of nine lead changes and six tied scores.
In the end, the Broncs were able to overcome an early 10-point deficit held by the Lumberjacks en route to improving their overall record to 6-5 on the season, including 5-0 at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
Dexter Shankle (Katy, TX/James E. Taylor H.S.) finished with 10 points while Brian Burrell (Nacogdoches, TX/Paris J.C.) added seven points and four rebounds for the Broncs.
While the statistics might not show their importance in the game, Schuberth was excited about the overall play of Kano Edwards (Bridgeport, CT/Western Nebraska C.C.) and Larry Sheppard (Baton Rouge, LA/Iowa Western C.C.) as the pair posted big plays in their minutes on the court.
The Broncs will be back in action at the UTPA Fieldhouse on Wednesday (Dec. 20) when they welcome The University of Texas at San Antonio with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information
