New-look lineup propels Broncs past Huskies
EDINBURG — The way the UTPA Broncs’ new-look starting five came about may not have been ideal, but it’s working out.
After Broncs coach Ryan Marks suspended five players, he started Jesus Delgado, Enique Mason, Brandon Provost, Aaron Urbanus and Jared Maree against NJIT last Saturday. He liked the energy with which the team played in that game so much, Marks started the same five against Houston Baptist on Saturday.
Carrying over the same energy from last week, the Broncs beat the Houston Baptist Huskies 81-71 at the Field House.
“I thought tonight, there didn’t seem to be any sourness over who was starting and who was not starting,” Marks said. “… I thought that was really critical that the guys just seemed happy to do what they needed to do to win. That leads to playing that way — unselfishly.”
Whether it was Ruben Cabrera taking a charge, an extra pass or a big rebound, the Broncs played as well together Saturday than they have all season.
Provost led the way with a career-tying 23 points while Maree had 14. Earl Jefferson scored 13, including a 3 with 12:09 left in the game to put the Broncs up for good, 53-50.
Enique Mason had six rebounds in 14 minutes to lead the Broncs and Nick Weiermiller recorded a game-high seven assists.
“We functioned on all cylinders tonight and played unselfish,” Provost said. “We were just trying to be aggressive.”
Jefferson’s 3 ignited 27-10 run that gave the Broncs a commanding 77-60 lead with 3:40 left in the game.
The win improves the Broncs to 7-16 overall and to 2-1 in the Great West Conference, which does not have an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The seven wins are the most the Broncs have had under Marks. The last two seasons the Broncs have been stuck at six.
“I’ll be honest with you, it feels great,” Provost said.
To start the season, Marks had hoped that this would be the team to record double-digit wins.
“We talked about — in some ways in context — what would be a nice substantial progress,” Marks said. “We felt double-digit wins would signify that.
“Obviously, we wanted to be competitive — a .500 or better team in conference. We have taken the early steps here in the conference in that direction.”
FREE THROWS: The coaching staff of both teams took part in the Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Awareness Weekend by wearing sneakers Saturday. The cause supports the American Cancer Society. …HBU falls to 6-14 and to 0-3 in the GWC. … Terry Bembry (17), Tyler Russell (16) and Marcus Davis (15) each scored in double-figures for the Huskies.
Peter Rasmussen covers UTPA athletics for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448 or via email at prasmussen@themonitor.com.
Follow Peter Rasmussen on Twitter @parasmuss
