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Show SPORTS B2 JANUARY 20, 2014 GABI CAMBELU/UVU REVIEW Hayes Garrity attacks the hoop during UVU's latest win against Grand Canyon. Wolverines winning when it counts Men's basketball moves to 3-0 in the Western Athletic Conference By Matt Gardner Reporter jamesmattgardner@gmail.com additional reporting By Kyle Spencer Sports Editor @kyledspencer After securing its first road win of the season at Bakersfield, UVU won its first home Western Athletic Conference game against Grand Canyon University 65-58, before defeating Idaho 71-66 on the road. "Grand Canyon has a good collection of players," UVU head coach Dick Hunsaker said after the first win. "They're athletic and have an inside presence and many stretch the court with their 3-point shooting. But we hustled and stuck together and made some timely shots throughout the game." The atmosphere in the UCCU Center was lively, and the play- ers seemed to be feeding off the excitement of the crowd. The game proved to be hard fought and physical. It was clear from the start that Grand Canyon played physically — getting to the free throw line and hitting 86.4 percent (19-of-22) of its attempts while UVU shot just 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from the stripe. Hunsaker said the difficulties at the stipe were just a hiccup, citing that the team percentage is still best in the WAC and that the Wolverines are among the best in the nation. What UVU lacked in free throws was more than made up for with its outstanding execution. The Wolverines shot 40.4 percent from the field, compared to the visiting Antelopes' 333 percent. Senior Ben Aird showed off his skills by finishing with a team-high 21 points and 15 rebounds. Aird was hit above his eye in the second half; reopening stitches he had received against Bakersfield, which caused him to wear a turban-like patch around his head. Aird said he didn't think it would affect him moving forward. Senior Holton Hunsaker demonstrated his shooting range behind the 3-point arc, draining four 3-pointers, ending with 15 points. His shooting kept pressure on the 'Lopes, who struggled to prevent to his sharpshooting. Junior Mitch Bruneel said that it was an honor to play against a coach with the professional playing experience like Coach Dan Majerle, who was once a 3-point specialist for the Phoenix Suns. Less than a week later, the Wolverines were in Moscow, Idaho for a matchup with the Idaho Vandals. UVU held on to a late advantage to top the hosts 71-66, to move to 9-7 overall and 3-0 in the WAC. Bruneel led the team with 18 points and eight rebounds in the win, and the Wolverines got 23 points off the bench, which was paced by sophomore Hayes Garrity's 14. Freshman Zach Nelson had 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Aird was the other UVU player in double figures with 11 and added four rebounds, three assists and four blocks. The team finished its two-game road trip Jan. 19 against WACleading scorer Isaiah Umpig and the Seattle Redhawks. Women's basketball continues to struggle I The Lady Wolverines are now 0-3 in WAC play after a heartbreaking loss on Thursday I I -;) I t r 1• By Jessica Whalen Sports Writer @jlhudginswhalen additional reporting By Garrett Coleman Assistant Sports Editor UtAH @legendgary62 The Wolverines hit another skid in the season, losing three straight losses after winning two in a row. Utah Valley fell on the road against Grand Canyon University 88-51 on Jan 11, and again at home to Idaho 55-96, on Jan. 16. Unfortunately, UVU never had the lead in the game falling behind from the beginning. GCU came out with an early 12-2 lead on the Wolverines, who were never able to recover from the early blow as 23 VALLI GCU continued to dominate the game. "They outplayed us in every facet," said head coach Cathy Nixon. "They executed so well on the offensive end and took us out of rhythm on the defensive end. When you come on the road you've got to be ready to go from the jump. Hopefully we learn a few things but you've got to hand it to Grand Canyon. They played a great game." The win for Grand Canyon places them ahead in the overall all-time series. The first win for Utah Valley was their first meeting in 2006. The Vandals played hard the entire game, taking and hitting threes to give them big leads throughout the game. The Vandals came out with a 7-0 run. In the game, they continued to keep the throttle down by shooting an impressive 54 percent, and 52 percent from distance en route to the 41-point victory. Turnovers were a big factor in the way the Wolverines played their game. Utah Valley had a total of 15 during the game, which is a big contrast to Idaho's four. Turnovers alone contributed to a lot of the problems that plagued the Wolverines throughout the game. "Idaho is a very well balanced team," said Nixon. "They're good defensively with a lot of people who contribute on the offensive end. They're really just a solid team that executes well and has multiple tools." A bright spot for the Wolverines was the play by Freshman Rhaiah Spooner-Knight, by scoring 10 points in each game. Joining Spooner-Knight against Idaho was sophomore center, Sam Loggins. The pair were the only Wolverines to score in the double-digits, each having 10 points apiece. The Wolverines will continue to improve as WAC play continues, but the road gets tougher as they face Seattle, a preseason favorite, on Jan. 18 along with a string of away games at Kansas City Jan. 23 and at Chicago State Jan. 25. WAC basketball standings (Conference record , overall record) MFN Utah Valley 3-0, 9-1 Chicago State 3-0, 8-9 New Mexico State 3-1, 14-6 Grand Canyon 2-2, 7-10 Kansas City 2-2, 5-11 Bakersfield 1-2, 8-9 Seattle U 1-3, 9-8 Texas-Pan American 1-3, 5-14 Idaho 1-4, 7-12 GABI CAMBELU/UVU REVIEW Tina Doughty looks to score against the Idaho Bengals. WOMEN Idaho 5-0, 12-7 Bakersfield 2-1, 8-7 Seattle U 3-2, 8-10 Grand Canyon 2-2, 13-4 Texas-Pan American 2-2, 8-9 Kansas City 2-2, 6-11 New Mexico State 2-2, 5-12 Utah Valley 0-3, 3-13 Chicago State 0-4, 3-14 |