Jan. 30, 2008

Box Score

OREM, Utah - Ryan Toolson and Richard Troyer combined for 51 points to lead Utah Valley to a 72-57 victory over the Sunbelt Conference's Arkansas State. The win is Wolverines' (10-13) season-high fourth straight victory.

The Wolverines were led by Toolson who scored 29 points in the win over the Indians. Troyer added a career-high 22 points while adding five rebounds. Josh Olson tied the UV record for assists in a game with 10. He now shares the record with former UV star and now Utah Jazz point-guard Ronnie Price. Arkansas State's Yima Chia-Kur led the Indians with 14 points and eight rebounds. He was followed by teammates Shawn Morgan and Mike Lance who both added 10.

"We played with a lot of energy at the start of the game and had a terrific collective first-half effort," UV head coach Dick Hunsaker said. "We battled and overcame a run early in the second half. Olsen, Troyer, (Brett) Ravenberg and Toolson all made special plays in the second half."

Ravenberg pulled down a team-high nine rebounds--a career high--in 18 minutes for UV.

Utah Valley started the game on a 13-3 run in the first six minutes to build a quick 10-point advantage. The Wolverines offense came out looking strong as they scored 24 points in the first ten minutes. The Indians kept it within reach by putting up 14 points of their own.

The senior forward, Troyer, contributed 13 points in the first nine minutes to lead UV to a solid start. The final 12 minutes of the half belonged to Toolson's shooting. Toolson ended the half with 19 points on 6-for-7 shooting and 4-for-5 from behind the three-point line.

The Indians had a well spread scoring attack in the first half with six players with points on the board. Shawn Morgan led ASU at the half with eight points.

Arkansas State shot 39 percent from the field in the first half to UV's blistering 58 percent from the field and 77 percent from three-point range. The high shooting percentage paid off as the Wolverines found themselves leading by 17 at the half with a score of 40-23.

Arkansas State started the period on an 18-6 run, cutting UV's lead to 46-41 with just under 13 minutes remaining in the game. ASU's Yima Chia-Kur came out of the locker room with a hot hand as he scored nine quick points to help chip away at the big half-time lead of the Wolverines.

The Wolverines weathered the storm as they pulled the lead back to 15 with three minutes left in the game with the score of 66-51.

Utah Valley will now play three of its next four games on the road when the Wolverines travel to Newark, N.J. to take on New Jersey Institute of Technology Saturday at 12 p.m. (MT)