Wolverines guaranteed winning season

OREM — With a 14-12 record and three games left on the schedule, the Utah Valley State men's basketball team could have clinched a winning record with a victory over Idaho State in its home finale last Tuesday.

A couple of communication breakdowns in the closing seconds, though, dealt the Wolverines a 68-67 loss to the Bengals.

With the defeat, all hopes for a winning season seemed to go up in smoke. Sure, two games remained, but both were on the road where UVSC had won only two of 13 all year.

The Wolverines, however, rebounded Saturday with their strongest road performance since early December to beat Northern Colorado 75-61. For the second consecutive season, UVSC (15-13) can boast a winning record against a Division I schedule.

"Everybody gave a tremendous effort," Utah Valley coach Dick Hunsaker said. "We played with terrific energy and a lot of competitive spirit. This was a great bounce back game following a tough loss to Idaho State."

Chris Bailey led five Wolverines in double figures with 15 points and six steals.

Utah Valley led at halftime 31-29 and used a 10-0 run five minutes into the second half to assert control.

The week that was

SOFTBALL: UVSC's softball squad dropped three of four over the weekend at the Husky Fever Classic in Seattle. Playing two games apiece against Santa Clara and 15th-ranked Washington, the Wolverines (5-6) began invitational with a 4-1 win Saturday over the Broncos. Jackie Roberts pitched a complete game seven-hitter in victory. The UVSC offense, however, was shut out over the next three games, a 2-0 loss to Santa Clara and a pair of 8-0 losses to the host Huskies.

BASEBALL: New Mexico swept the visiting Wolverines (2-8) in a three-game series last weekend. UVSC lost 9-3 on Friday, 3-0 on Saturday and 9-6 on Sunday. Starting pitcher Kalen Parsons pitched six strong innings on Saturday, giving up three runs on only four hits. Eli Slesk, Canyon Vance and Adam Openshaw each collected two hits in Sunday's loss.

WRESTLING: The UVSC grapplers finished their season with a bang Thursday, defeating Air Force 24-20 and downing host Northern Colorado 32-10. The two victories gave the Wolverines a 9-9 mark in team dual matches.