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Wolverines Pick Up GWC Victory over HBU
Feb. 6, 2010
OREM, Utah - Utah Valley picked up its second straight Great West Conference victory Saturday night with a 72-66 victory over Houston Baptist, which entered the game tied for the league lead. Jordan Swarbrick led the Wolverines with 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Jourdain Scoubes and 14 and Aaron England chipped in with 13 - 11 of which came in the first half - in leading the Wolverines to the six-point victory. Justin Baker also recorded a career-high five blocks. "I thought it was an terrific overall inspired win, especially coming off an emotional evening (Thursday) with the Ronnie Price hall of fame induction. The kids battled and fought," UVU head coach Dick Hunsaker said. "Everyone played well, and I liked the way we maintained our aggressiveness." UVU 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 Huskies 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. With the win, the Wolverines improve to 11-12 overall and 4-3 in league play with five league games remaining, four of which are on the road. 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's Miles Dixon led all scorers with 23 points. The Wolverines will play their next four games on the road beginning Feb. 13 at Texas-Pan American. The game tips at 6 p.m. |
 
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