Dec. 3, 1999

Box Score

Muncie, Ind. - - The UWM men's basketball team improved to 3-1 on the season with a convincing 80-61 win over Troy State in the first round of the First Merchants Classic on Sunday.

"I thought 30 of the 40 minutes were pretty solid," said Ryan. "Troy State was more athletic, but we wore them down."

Chad Angeli and Clay Tucker, who each scored 21 points, led the Panthers. Ronnie Jones (13 points) and Jason Frederick (10 points) also scored in double figures for UWM.

UWM led by as many as 11 early in the first half and led, 37-32, at halftime. Tucker and Jones both had 10 points at the intermission.

After Troy State scored the first basket of the second half, UWM went on a 28-5 run and led, 65-39, with 8:29 remaining in the game.

"The thing with runs is that we try to play every possession like it is 0-0," said UWM coach Bo Ryan.

Tucker collected a game-high 10 rebounds and tallied his first collegiate double-double.

Thirteen of Angeli's points came in the second half.

"Every game is a learning process for us," said Ryan. "It's nice to see that the guys found Chad on the block. We got the ball inside, and also hit some three-pointers."

UWM shot .348 (8-23) from behind the three-point arc, including Tucker's 3-5 clip.

"Anytime you score more points than you take three-point shots, you have to keep shooting it," said Ryan.

UWM advances to the championship game of the tournament and will face either Ball State or Cornell.

"If it turns out to be the host team we play, then we get to go against another good team in the MAC," said Ryan.

Gametime is 6:00 p.m. CST on Saturday. The game will be carried live on the Panthers' official web site: uwmpanthers.com.