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Show B4 SPORTS Men's rugby beats SOU, readies for playoffs By Donnie Clarke Sports Writer IMMO akilalle -1111.81182 PHOTO BY KEVIN BRYAN/UVU REVIEW Mens rugby prepares for the playoffs in the snow. GWC TOURNAMENT from B1 PHOTO BY MATT PETERSEN/UVU REVIEW Holton Hunsaker driving against NHL it best. The senior transfer contested NJIT guard Ryan Woods' 3-pointer as closely as he could without fouling, his hand practically touching Woods' face. When the shot went in, Thompson stood there, his face a picture of disbelief. The deficit was five and UVU was on the verge of bowing out early. Again. For Williams, Robinson and Thompson, all of whom arrived as transfer students in 2010, it was as unexpected as it was too soon. "You want to keep winning, keep playing" Williams said. "We've got five seniors on our team this year that I might not ever, ever see again after these last couple months. It's hard. It's hard. The seniors weren't the only ones left wanting af- ter yet another disappointing conference tournament. Had the Wolverines won out, they would likely have been invited to the CollegeInsider. corn Tournament (CIT). It wouldn't have been on par with the NCAA Tournament, but it would have marked the team's first ever national postseason of any kind. Instead Friday marked another disappointing exit. UVU failed to close out on NJIT's shooters, giving them all the confidence they needed to hit contested daggers later in the game. The Highlanders ended with an 11-for-21 showing from 3-point range, led by Chris Flores' 27 pionts and five 3-pointers. "There were multiple momentum switches throughout the course of the game," Hunsaker said. "I think that we entered the game, if I'm Come to Centre Stage Wednesday, March 21st starting at 11:30. T-shirts, sunglasses, lip Palm and more! ***Summer Semester priority registration starts Monday, March 19. Last week the rugby team continued with its winning ways against Southern Utah University. Currently the team is ranked fourth in the country. They are undefeated in league play and are currently getting ready for the playoffs. Matt Lefrandt is in his second year playing for the school. When asked why the team has been playing so well he said, "We are better conditioned than ever before. We have great coaches and trainers who have been getting us in great shape. The coaches are great and the team captains are great leaders. Everybody is playing team ball and not mistaken, as the 10th best 3-point defensive team in the nation. Our ability to defend the arc fueled their team and their shots. Frankly, that gave them the momentum shifts and sparks that they needed." Meanwhile, the Wolverines weren't efficient enough. Williams and sophomore guard Holton Hunsaker combined for 46 points, but needed 43 shots to get there. Robinson and center Ben Aird were limited to 10 and eight points, respectively, a far cry from their combined 41 points and 66 percent shooting in the two teams' last meeting. In the end, the most important stats are 0-for-3 (wins in conference tournaments) and 0-for-5 (games left for five seniors). "They deserve better than to have their career end in a conference tournament, back- everyone on this team is like family." Even though there have been lots of injuries this year the team has been winning with their unselfish, team-first mentality. When asked how they keep winning with all of their injuries Lefrandt said that everybody plays unselfishly, and the coaches have been doing a great job of making adjustments. Lefrandt attributed their unselfish play to how close they are as a team. He said the team is like a family, and that everybody looks out for each other and they want everyone to do well. This week one of the team captains will be returning from injury and the team is as determined as ever to win. to-back years in very difficult games," Hunsaker said. "This is our last game. I feel very bad for each of them, because I know each of those five seniors are hurting." Matt Petersen can be reached at petersensports@ gmail.com . You can follow him on Twitter @TheMattPetersen. MENS BASKETBALL STANDINGS* OVERALL UV L UVU NJIT UND UTPA HBU CSU 20 12 15 16 16 14 11 21 10 20 4 26 *AS OF MAR 9, 2012 91 55 64 55 37 28 Jensen named GWC Player of the Year CHICAGO - Utah Valle y University junior forward Sammie Jensen was named the 2011-12 Great West Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year Wednesday evening to highlight the conference's postseason awards. Jensen was also named to the All-GWC First Team, while seniors Abbie Beutler, Jenna Johnson and sophomore Whitney Jenkins were named AllConference Honorable Mention selections. "It's a great honor for Sammie. There are a lot of good players in this conference and she has consistently performed all season long to earn this recognition," said UVU head coach Cathy Nixon. "These awards are a real credit to the players that were recognized as well as for the team, as it takes a team effort to make these players perform as well as they have." Jensen averages a double-double for the season and is the second-leading scorer in the GWC at 13.6 points per game and leads the league in rebounding with 10.3 boards per contest. The Stansbury Park, Utah native moves up from being the conference's newcomer of the year last season to the player of the year this seasson and she also moves up to the firstteam after being a secondteam honoree last season. |