EDINBURG, Texas – Texas-Pan American forced North Dakota into a couple of cold spells from the field and that allowed the Broncs to pull away and post a 70-58 victory on Saturday in Great West play at the UTPA Fieldhouse.  UND (10-12, 2-3 GWC) held leads in both halves, but the home-standing Broncs (8-17, 3-2 GWC) made a pair of key runs to combat those brief deficits and earn the league win.

Sophomores Brandon Brekke (East Grand Forks, Minn.) and Jamal Webb (Buffalo, N.Y.) netted double figures for the visitors with 15 and 10 points, respectively, but UND could not find a rhythm offensively after a fast start. 

 “I think this one came down to making shots,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. ”They made some timely ones with the shot-clocking winding down and we just could not get anything to fall. We had some good looks in the second half when things got tight again, but it was just not falling for us tonight.” 

Senior Jared Maree scored a game-high 17 points to pace the home team and Jesus Delgado added 14 as the Broncs snapped a three-game losing skid against UND. UTPA connected on 50.8 percent of its shots (27-for-53), while holding UND to just a 38.9 percent clip (21-for-54).

Sophomore Troy Huff (Milwaukee, Wis.) missed the first field of the game for the visitors, but UND hit its next five from the floor to build a 12-5 lead at the first media timeout. The Broncs would answer, however, with a 7-0 run to tie it at 12-12. 

Classmate Josh Schuler (Urbana, Ohio) knocked down a 3-pointer to put UND back ahead at 15-12, but his squad would make only four more field goals over the remaining 12 minutes of the half.

That drought allowed the home team to surge ahead and take a 34-28 advantage into the locker room. Maree, who scored his 1,000th-career point on Thursday vs. Utah Valley, led the Broncs with 11 first-half points as they shot 50 percent from the floor (14-for-28). 

UND would erased the halftime deficit thanks to a personal 5-0 run by junior Jordan Allard (Fargo, N.D.). The reserve forward tied things up at 45-45 with a finger-roll layup down the middle of the lane, then put his team ahead for the first time in the second half with an old-fashioned three-point play.

Allard's spurt happened with just under 12 minutes to play, but just like the first half - UTPA had another answer. This time it was a 13-0 run by the home team, pushing the lead out to 10 at 58-48. Brekke made the only field goal for UND over the next 10 minutes on a putback dunk as the Broncs pulled away to post the 12-point victory.

Brekke pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, while sophomore Aaron Anderson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) had five assists for UND. Huff, who scored four points, added four assists as he was held below double figures for the first time in league play this season.

UND remains on the road for two more GWC tilts, starting with a contest at Chicago State on Thursday. 

– UND –