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Show SPORTS VOL L ISSUE 26 www.uvureview.com March 7, 2011 Season champs Seniors Justin Baker, Shawn Deadwiler and Jordan Swarbrick finish their final year as regular season GWC champions. By Mike Sanborn and Kira Terry Asst. Opinions Editor Sports Editor Utah Valley's trio of seniors received a fitting finale as the Wolverines downed Houston Baptist University 67-62 on Senior Night Feb. 26 and then took the win over NJIT March 3, making them Great West Conference regular season champions. On Senior Night, despite a 4-23 record, HBU aggressively clung in the game, keeping pace with UVU until the closing seconds. Thanks to a strong defensive effort that included 48 rebounds, the Wolverines held off the Huskies' advances and never lost the lead. The first half saw HBU struggle against UVU's larger players underneath the basket, relying on 3-pointers to stay competitive. Following the break at half, UVU came out determined to neutralize the long threat. As a result, HBU went 17 minutes without a three-point shot in the second half until a rally attempt in the final 30 seconds. While they shined on defense, UVU's offense fell flat by comparison. UVU struggled offensively, shooting 22.7 percent of 3-pointers while turning the ball over 15 times. Despite that lackluster performance, they still managed to produce defensively and underneath. UVU pulled in 14 rebounds while on offense, putting up 13 points from second chances. The big men shouldered the team's weight as the forwards and center scored 47 of UVU's points, 28 coming in the paint. Freshman standout Ben Aird proved he earned the Great West Conference Player of the Week with a double-double, leading the team in points at 22 and posting 11 rebounds. Aird was honored with a second consecutive Player of the Week award last week. "I am very pleased and impressed to see him build off his Player of the Week award and come up with another effort that would really warrant consecutive players of the week," said Coach Dick Hunsaker. Despite an amazing season as a freshman, Aird remains grounded as a team player, passing off his continued on B7 Kira Terry/UVU Review Senior Justin Baker tallied 212 points and 147 rebounds in all 29 games during the Wolverines' 2011 regular season. Baseball looking to heat up By Nate Gray Asst. Sports Editor Due to Mother Nature and constant unfriendly baseball temperatures, it may come as a surprise that UVU baseball is back. For those who don't know, baseball is supposed to be a spring sport, but NCAA Division I baseball starts every year in the middle of February. This gives universities like UVU the task of formatting a full season schedule while dealing with normal Utah Valley winter weather conditions. Weather issues leave UVU and Coach Eric Madsen with only one option: start the season on the road. The 2011 season does just that, and consists of 29 of their first 33 games away from home. With seven of those road games down, the Wolverines (3-4) are looking to warm up just as they did last year where they started 4-6 go- ing on to the program's first 40-win season and a Great West Conference Championship. UVU opened their season this year in Lubbock, Texas for Texas Tech's Red Raider Classic. The Wolverines first faced Big-10 opponent Northwestern, winning 3-0 and were highlighted by Blake Krahenbuhl and Josh Swenson's respective pitching performances. The two combined for a five-hit shutout, giving Krahenbuhl the win and Swenson the save. UVU would go on to drop their next two games against Western Michigan and host Texas Tech with final scores of 3-2 and 6-2, both of which were games Coach Madsen felt were well within reach of winning. "Our pitching has dominated everything we have done and has kept us in every game," said Madsen. "Our defense made some costly miscues and we're trying to continued on B8 Courtesy of UVU Athletics Sophomore Blake Krahenbuhl |