Dec. 20, 2010
Final Stats | Photo Gallery by Ivan Pierre Aguirre 
HIGH RES Photo Gallery by Ivan Pierre Aguirre
Box Score in PDF Format
Randy Culpepper scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half as UTEP knocked off Stephen F. Austin, 61-52, on Monday at the Don Haskins Center for its sixth straight win.
The Miners (9-2) survived a knock-down, drag-out battle with the Lumberjacks (7-3), who led the nation in scoring defense at 52.2 points per game coming into the contest. The game was tied at 15 before UTEP outscored SFA 8-2 over the final 4:02 of the first half.
After the Lumberjacks cut the deficit to four points (28-24) on a jumper by Mark Gomillia with 15:52 to play, UTEP utilized a 10-1 spurt to build a 38-25 lead with 11:38 left. The Miners had one more run in them, scoring nine consecutive points to expand a 45-36 lead to 54-36 with 4:05 to go.
UTEP shot 60 percent in the second half to finish at 46.3 percent for the night. The Miners outrebounded their fifth opponent in the last six games, 33-32.
Christian Polk added 10 points, Julyan Stone nine and Jeremy Williams eight for UTEP. Jereal Scott was the lone Lumberjack in double figures with 14 points and 15 rebounds.
SFA, which saw its three-game winning streak come to an end, shot 38.2 percent and made just 5-of-13 free throws -- all in the second half.
Winners of a school-record tying eight straight road games, the Miners will play their final game prior to the Christmas break on Thursday at BYU (7 p.m.).
