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EDINBURG, TX – Senior G Brandon Provost scored a game-high 24 points for Texas-Pan American, leading his team past NJIT, 79-59, and snapping the Highlanders' season-high five-game winning streak, as the Broncs took the regular-season finale on Senior Night at UTPA Fieldhouse on Saturday. With the victory, UTPA (16-15, 5-3) clinched the No. 2 seed for the Great West Conference Tournament and will head to Chicago with a season-high tying, three-game winning streak.

Despite the loss, NJIT (16-12, 6-2) will be the No. 1 seed in the GWC Tournament after finishing the regular season 10-4 since taking the conference season-opener at Utah Valley on Jan. 2. A win would have given the Highlanders a tie for their longest winning streak in the program's Division-I history, as NJIT notched six straight victories from Feb. 1-19 during the 2010-11 season.

The Broncs' win avenged the earlier meeting between the two programs, when NJIT handled UTPA nearly buzzer-to-buzzer in Newark, 64-51, on Jan. 26. In fact, the 17-point defeat in Round Two ties the Highlanders' worst loss this season – an 83-67 defeat at Lafayette College on Jan. 2.

Provost, who entered as the league's third-leading scorer (14.5) and leading three-point marksman (.424), connected on 6-of-9 field-goal attempts and 5-of-7 shots from downtown to pace all scorers. In fact, senior G Aaron Urbanus scored 18 points with 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc – as the duo combined for 42 of the Broncs' 76 points (55-percent). The pair posted just 12 total points in the prior bout in Newark.

Senior G Jesus Delgado rounded out UTPA's double-digit scorers, as he netted 10 points to notch his 10th such effort in the last 11 games.

Senior G PJ Miller led a balanced attack for NJIT, scoring 12 points while handing out a team-high four assists. Whereas all nine Highlanders who played tallied points, senior G Chris Flores was the only other visitor in double-digits with 11 points to go along with a game-high four steals.

Senior F Ryan Woods, the team's second-leading scorer, did not play Saturday due to injury.

Drawing the start in the co-captain's absence, freshman G Ky Howard had a solid all-around game with eight points, a game-high eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. However, he left inside of the final minute of the game with an injury – one in which the status is still unknown.

Much like the first meeting between the squads, the home team controlled the majority of the game from early on.

On Jan. 26, Woods nailed a three-pointer 56 seconds into the game to give NJIT a 3-2 lead – a lead that put the Highlanders ahead for good in a 64-51 rout.

In the rematch, the Broncs seized control a bit later, but emphatically seized it for good at the 12:10 mark of the first half.

Less than a minute earlier, junior F Quentin Bastian had hit a six-foot one-hander to give NJIT a 15-11 lead – its largest of the night – with 13:12 to go in the half. But that's when UTPA would turn the tides.

The Broncs held the Highlanders without a field goal for the next 10:25, during with time UTPA went on a 21-3 run to build its lead to 33-18 on a free throw by junior F Josh Cleveland with 2:55 to go.

Freshman G Mitch Farrell stopped the drought by nailing a three-pointer with 2:47 to go – his first points since Jan. 30 and the firsts of his career against a D-I opponent.

However, Provost answered with a trey of his own just 40 seconds later and NJIT didn't score again for the remainder of the half. By that time, UTPA built a 38-21 lead – which again resembled the 36-20 edge the Highlanders held halfway through the first meeting.

The first-half run started on a three-pointer by Urbanus that pulled the home team to within one point. However, it may have been the play off the bench of Cleveland that really solidified the effort.

Although averaging just 3.8 ppg entering the game, the Houston native was summoned off the bench at 12:32 and scored eight points over the next 10 minutes to compliment the outside shooting of the two senior guards. Although he registered just four points in nine minutes in the first meeting, Cleveland averaged 13.0 ppg and 5.5 rpg in two games against NJIT last season. He finished on Saturday with nine points and four boards.

Shooting was a major tell-tale for the first-half results. UTPA shot a ballistic 60.0 percent (12-for-20) overall and 71.4 percent (5-for-7) from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes, compared to just 26.9 (7-for-26) and 25.0 (2-for-8) for NJIT, respectively.

The Broncs cooled down to 51.1 percent for the game – which was still a season-high by an opponent against NJIT, which entered the game with the ninth-best field-goal percentage defense in the nation. UTPA stayed hot from downtown and finished at 57.9 percent (11-for-19) for the game.

Meanwhile, the GWC's lowest field-goal percentage defense held the Highlanders to 37.5 percent (18-for-48) shooting for the game.

NJIT tried to make a run following the break by scoring the first five points of the second half to cut it to a 12-point deficit. But Provost again answered with a three-pointer and the Highlanders never got closer than 12 for the remainder of the game.

UTPA closed out its regular season with a 16-15 record – its first winning regular season since finishing 18-13 in 2007-08. The Broncs' three-game winning streak also ties their longest of the season, a feat they've accomplished two prior occasions (Dec. 20-29; Jan. 8-19).

The Highlanders concluded the regular season with a program-best 16-12 record and as the GWC regular-season champions. As the No. 1 seed in the GWC Tournament, they will have a first-round bye and play next on Friday at 5 p.m. against the winner of Thursday's matchup between No. 4 Houston Baptist (12-16, 3-5) and No. 5 Utah Valley (14-17, 3-5).

UTPA will have the daunting task of facing the host team in the tournament, Chicago State (9-21, 3-5), on its home court at the Jones Convocation Center. That game has been moved to prime time at 7:30 p.m. to accomodate the host team.

The GWC Tournament winner receives an automatic bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, which begins the following Monday. Last season, the Highlanders advanced to the GWC Tournament Finals before falling to North Dakota. Utah Valley, which was the No. 1 seed heading into last year's tournament, was upset my NJIT in the first round but still earned an at-large bid to participate in this postseason tournament.

This could have potentially been the final meeting between the two programs, as UTPA will be joining the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for the 2013-14 season. The Broncs still lead the all-time series with NJIT, 10-5.

Write-up courtesy of Matt Provence