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Show orts The College Times A9 MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2008 Rocky break SDSU no match in conference opener The College Times Utah Valley won its first ever Western Wrestling Conference dual in convincing fashion over South Dakota State, 39-4. The Wolverines recorded wins in nine out of the 10 matches on the night, and improved to 4-2 (1-0 WWC) in duals this season while the Jacks dropped to 0-2 (0-1 WWC). "We have a great group of guys...they are working very hard," said UV head coach Greg Williams. "We wrestled offensively and were aggressive. This is a good win." Casen Eldredge put Utah Valley out in front 6-0 after the opening match when he pinned Tyler Sorenson with 25 seconds left in the second period in the 174-pound match. At 184 pounds Mark Dennis increased Utah Valley's lead to 9-0 with an 8-2 decision over Jeremy Swier. Dennis took a 2-0 lead with a takedown late in the opening period. He doubled that lead with another takedown at the 1:33 mark of the second to take control of the match. Billy Green kept South Dakota State off the scoreboard when he outlasted Brady Punt at 285 pounds in a 5-2 decision to give the Wolverines a 12-0 lead. Ben Kjar won his 26th match of the season when he made quick work of Alan Marvin, winning by fall just 1:37 into the match. Kjar's win gave the Wolverines a commanding 18-0 lead. Derek Pirrier got the Jacks only win of the night by major decision over Logan Wilson. Sam Allen notched his 20th win of the season when he pinned Marc Wermersen with 25 seconds left in the first. Allen's pin clinched the win for Utah Valley, giving the Wolverines a 27-4 lead with just three matches left. Nate Kearsley and Sean Flynn were locked in a good battle at 157 pounds when Flynn was forced to withdraw with just 17 seconds left in the match due to an injury. Up to that point, it had been one of the most competitive matches of the night with Kearsley scoring six straight points after falling behind 6-2 in the opening period. Utah Valley will be back home for the Utah Valley Open, taking place ail day Saturday. File photo/ College Times UV junior Ryan Toolson drives past a defender in last season. Toolson leads the Wolverines in scoring with 22 points per game. Schedule proves problematic Ben Webster Spans editor With a schedule against many socalled mid-majors schools the Utah Valley men's basketball team had an up-and-down holiday break, with the downs a little more frequent. Utah Valley did beat San Francisco and Eddie Sutton, who has 798 Division I wins and took over as interim head coach for San Francisco a week before facing the Wolverines. Ryan Toolson continues to lead the Wolverines in scoring with 22 points per game and Jordan Brady is averaging 10.9 points per game as the only other player scoring in double figures. Utah Valley (6-9) has struggled both at home, with a record of 3-3 compared to last years 14-1 home record, and on the road with a 2-6 record away from Orem. The schedule eases up a bit for Utah Valley now, but the team doesn't return home until January 22. After five straight losses from November 28 on the road against San Francisco to a home loss December 13 to Boise State. Utah Valley pulled out a win at Southern Utah. It took double overtime, a careerhigh in scoring by Toolson and a 3-pointer by Toolson at the end of regulation, at the end of the first overtime and to seal the win at the end of the second overtime. "I'm very happy for our players," Utah Valley coach Dick Hunsaker said. "They never dropped their heads even during the tough times." Utah Valley trailed by 15 points in the first half and went into halftime down by nine points. Freshman guard Kevin Woods had his best game as a Wolverine in a loss against Cal State Northridge. Woods scored a career-high 15 points but Utah Valley gave up a late lead. "Coach put some new things in the offense to try to take some pressure off Toolson," Woods said. "I am best at one-on-one stuff and coach told me to take it when I had the opportunity." Hunsaker said, "Woods has some good aspects to his game but he's still young and he's learning." In the team's final game over the holiday break, Utah Valley beat San Francisco by hitting a record 13 3-pointers. Toolson scored 31 points and tied a school record with seven 3-pointers. Josh Olsen scored 12 points and made three 3-pointers. Utah Valley hits the road for five straight road games before returning to the McKay Center to face North Carolina Central. Winning ways continue at home Matt Beaudin Assistant Sports editor The Lady Wolverines continued their dominance at home last Wednesday as they knocked off the Nevada Wolf Pack 65-56 to stay unbeaten at home this season. Utah Valley improved to 13-3 on the year including 9-0 in the friendly confines of the McKay Center "The way to build a program is to establish a winning tradition at home," said coach Cathy Nixon. "We're glad we've been able to do that this year." Over the break the Wolverines compiled 5-3 record with ail of their wins coming at home. After losing two straight on the road to Montana State and BYU the Wolverines returned home to break the losing skid with a win over the University of Portland. The winning wouldn't last long as Utah Valley made the long trip to Durham, North Carolina where the No. 12 Duke Blue Devils rudely greeted them. However, in the 95-61 loss Robyn Fairbanks set a Cameron Indoor Stadium record with 20 rebounds. The Wolverines returned from their first-ever meeting with a ranked opponent to play their next four games at home. The home stand came at an opportune time as Utah Valley ran the table with wins over Western State, Portland State, Gonzaga and Nevada. Utah Valley's dominance at home has helped the Wolverines jump out to their best start in their short Division I history. With two more wins Utah Valley will match its record for most wins in D-I, set last season with 15. With four of their next eight games remaining to be played at home, it's expected they'll eclipse last years mark and record the most wins in a season since becoming a division 1 program. With a lack of fan support from the student body it's difficult to pinpoint the reason for the Wolverines success at home this season. Whether it's the familiarity Flash point Addition of Almond and Fesenko sure to spark team Jason Adkins Sports writer The Utah Flash haven't exactly started off on a tear in their inaugural season. But with the addition of Morris Almond, the Utah Jazz first-round pick in the 2007 draft whom was sent down in early December, the Flash has found the offensive leader they were lacking. Almond has already paid dividends, scoring 51 points to tie a D-League singlegame record, by becoming the third-leading scorer in the league with 29.9 points per game. Flash coach Brad Jones said that Almond is doing it with others playing a significant role as well. "Everyone's going to talk about Morris Almond's 51 points," Jones said. "He was terrific and he got it within the flow of the offense. "But we had so many little plays that won't show up in the paper tomorrow. John Millsap getting a loose ball. Morris Almond going to the basket at the end to make something happen instead of settling for a jumper when he played 40 somethingminutes." A big moment of the Flash came against the Albuquerque Thunderbirds on Dec. 29 in a II3-96 cornefrom-behind win. Down by 20 points in the third quarter, the Flash went on a 44-4 run to get the big win. "I was disappointed at halftime by the toughness we showed," Jones said. "When the first group went back in there and tried, missed some layups, it just wasn't working. So I thought if we are going to go down, we are going to do it with a bunch of young guys playing their tails off." It was a big deal for the team in a game that could have given the Flash two straight losses. "Some of them in there said it might be a statement game," Jones said about his players' reaction afterwards. "Let's put it this way, I hope it is." Helping out the Flash for the long-run now will be Kyrylo Fesenko who was sent down for the third time this season by the Jazz, the maximum amount. It's expected that Fesenko will be around for a while to season his game. But how long he's here is still not set in stone. "With assigned guys, I have no idea how long he'll be here," Jones said. "I think the thought is they (Jazz) would like for him to be here for a while, because they were pleased with what he did while he was here." The Flash are back in action Wednesday and Friday at the McKay Center. U V SPORTS SCHEDULE Ken Hoglund / College Time* Wolverine guard Sandy Marvin defends one of Nevada's players. with the building and comfort of being at home, or playing on the same court these women practice on the game results have not been as ambiguous.. "Taking care of our home court is something that's definitely been a goal of ours," said Nixon. " A lot of it is that performance has to do with being comfortable." ; Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. 8 8 1.1 12 Women's basketball at Denver 7:00pm - 3 Men's basketball at Lamar 6:00pm Hockey at UNLV _ > ; ^ i j y ^ ^ ' ; 6:30pm " 1 Hockey at UNLV 6:00pm Jan. 12 Men's basketball at Chicago State 1:00pm 2 : Jan. 12 Wrestling Utah Valley Open all day |