Feb. 24, 2007

Box Score

Newark, NJ- The Utah Valley State men's basketball team hit its first 12 shots of the game and cruised to an 77-47 victory over New Jersey Institute of Technology on Saturday at the Fleisher Athletic Center.

Ryan Toolson led Utah Valley with 17 points on six of seven shooting from the field and David Heck scored 15 on six of seven shooting. Toolson and Heck both connected on three 3-pointers. Every player saw action and was able to score.

"To shoot the ball as well as we did in this ball game and to have everybody score and make a field goal speaks very high of this basketball team," Utah Valley State coach Dick Hunsaker said. "Tonight was a terrific effort by our players."

Richard Troyer led Utah Valley in rebounding with five. The Wolverines shot 67 percent from the field for the game and hit on nine of 12 3-pointers. Utah Valley out rebounded New Jersey Institute of Technology 29-18.

Chris Bailey led the Wolverines with five assists and no turnovers.

"We were able to make a lot of shots early," Hunsaker said. "We maintained our concentration and did a good job sustaining ourselves in the second half. We defended the ball well and did a relative good job on the backboards."

The win ups the Wolverines record to 21-7 on the season and 8-1 in United Basketball League play. Utah Valley State has earned at least a share of the United Basketball League championship with an 8-1 mark. North Dakota State is currently in second place with two losses.

Utah Valley finished with an 8-6 record on the road, its best since playing a complete Division I schedule.

NJIT was led by Michael Manning's 12 points. As a team they shot 38 percent from the field. They are now 5-21 with a home game against Texas-Pan American on Monday.

During the Wolverines first half run, Heck hit his four shots including three 3-pointers to spark UV to a 30-11 lead with 12:42 left until halftime.

The Wolverines missed their first shot of the game with 10:04 on the clock. Utah Valley shot 73 percent from the field in the half.

The Wolverines extended their lead to 30 points midway through the second half at 58-28 after a Toolson steal and lay up.

One minute later, another basket by Toolson and one by Joe Walker upped the lead to 62-28 with 9:22 to play in the game.

Utah Valley shot 62 percent in the second half.

The Wolverines conclude their season on Saturday March 3, when they play host to Texas-Pan American on Senior Night. It will be the final home game for Chris Bailey, David Heck, Matt Peterson and Peter Brown.