Box Score

OREM, Utah – Utah Valley dominated inside and on the glass to battle its way to a 67-62 victory over Houston Baptist and clinch a share of the Great West Conference regular-season title Saturday night at the McKay Events Center.

HBU senior guard Andrew Gonzalez led HBU (4-23, 2-8 GWC) with 16 points, the first time he has been held below 20 points in a conference game this season. Senior forward Fred Hinnenkamp and senior guard Shawn Echols each added 13 points for the Huskies. Senior guard Michael Moss had nine points, tied for the team lead with six rebounds, had three assists and three steals, extending his streak to 28 straight game with at least one steal dating back to last season. Sophmore forward Lamar Thomas tied Moss with six rebounds.

Ben Aird led Utah Valley (18-10, 10-1) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Geddes Robinson also had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Isiah Williams added 14 points for the Wolverines.

Utah Valley shot 41.5 percent from the floor for the game, but the league's best 3-point shooting team shot only 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from behind the arc. HBU shot 42.9 percent from the floor, but cooled off from long range in the second half, ending up only 35.3 percent (6-of-17) for the game. The Wolverines outrebounded the Huskies, 48-23, including 14-4 on the offensive glass. Utah Valley committed 15 turnovers, while the Huskies only had nine.

The Huskies tied the game on a Hinnenkamp jumper on the first possession of the second half, but the Wolverines quickly answered with back-to-back baskets inside and a three by Williams to take a seven-point lead. Gonzalez hit a 3-pointer to make the score 39-35. HBU tied the game again, 41-41, on Echols' reverse layup with 13:06 to go, but Utah Valley came right back with a three by Williams, which started a 7-0 run. HBU trailed by four at the five-minute mark, and a Hinnenkamp three with 25 seconds left also made it a four-point game, but the Huskies would get no closer.

Utah Valley jumped out to an 11-4 lead before Echols and Gonzalez nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead to one. After the Wolverines went back up by five, Gonzalez hit a deep three and freshman Jonathan Evans tied the game with a pair of free throws, 17-17, with 9:36 to go. Utah Valley scored seven straight, before Gonzalez ended the run with his third trey of the half, Hinnenkamp followed with a fast-break layup after a steal by Echols and Thomas tied the game on a tip-in, 24-24, with 3:35 remaining.

Williams hit a three to regain the lead for the Wolverines, but junior forward Terry Bembry followed a Gonzalez miss with a layup. Swarbrick's three put Utah Valley up by four, but Moss answered with a jumper off the window to cut the lead to 32-30. Gonzalez missed a pair of opportunities for the Huskies to tie or take the lead, going 0-for-3 from the free-throw line in the final 23 seconds of the half, but he led HBU with nine points, while Aird had eight points and seven boards for Utah Valley at the break.

Utah Valley shot 41.9 percent from the field, but only 23.1 percent (3-for-13) from behind the arc in the first half, while HBU shot 40.0 percent, including 57.1 percent (4-for-7) from 3-point range in the opening half. The Wolverines held a huge advantage on the glass, grabbing 26 rebounds, nine on the offensive end, but turned the ball over nine times. The Huskies had 13 rebounds, but only turned the ball over four times.