box score

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin men's basketball team led from start to finish as the Falcons kept their conference tournament hopes alive with their 79-61 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State.

The Falcons still remain in a tie for third place with Dallas Baptist with 5-4 Heartland Conference records and the top-four teams advance to play in the conference tournament which is to be held in San Antonio on March 4-5.

UTPB relied on its outside shooting, hitting 15 three-pointers, including five from Jamal Holden, who finished with a game-high 19 points. Three others finished in double-figures with Louis Crane putting in 17 as he knocked down three from long range. The Falcons hit just over 52 percent from the field, but even more impressively, hit 55.6 percent from behind the three-point line.

The two teams exchanged buckets to start the game until the Falcons, who were leading 12-10, used a 25-8 run to lead 37-18with 6:36 to play in the half after Crane hit a jumper. The scoring spurt proved to be too much for the Aggies to overcome as they never recovered. UTPB would eventually take a 45-26 lead at the break.

The Falcons kept a double-digit lead in the second and the Aggies were never able to cut the gap any closer than 13. UTPB poured it on in the second half, going up by as many as 25 (76-51) after Luther Thomas nailed his only three-pointer on the night.

UTPB improved to 12-11 overall and will take on Newman Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in the Falcon Dome.