Tulsa 72, Texas-Pan American 64

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Rod Earls scored 22 points and added a key steal as Tulsa held off Texas-Pan American 72-64 on Saturday night.<br/> <br/>Earls swiped a pass from Brian Burrell, his former teammate

Saturday, January 6th 2007, 9:45 pm

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Rod Earls scored 22 points and added a key steal as Tulsa held off Texas-Pan American 72-64 on Saturday night.

Earls swiped a pass from Brian Burrell, his former teammate at Paris (Texas) Junior College, with the Broncs trailing 67-62. Earls was fouled and made both free throws with 38 seconds left.

Burrell was held to 8 points, well below his team-leading 17.1 average, but the Broncs got a career-high 23 from guard Paul Stoll, who drained 7-10 3-point shots. Colin Lien added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Broncs, 8-8.

After a sluggish start, Tulsa (10-3) took command with a 22-2 run, turning an early 12-5 deficit into a 27-14 lead with one of its most prolonged stretches of offensive and defensive execution in recent weeks.

Point guard Brett McDade, who lost his starting job to freshman Mark Hill, hit two baskets in that stretch, as did fellow reserve Ray Reese.

Tulsa stretched the lead to 48-29 early in the 2nd half before Stoll began shooting the Broncs back into the game. He made 5 of his treys as Texas-Pan American (8-8) outscored Tulsa 27-16 to close within 6 at 64-58 with 3:35 to play.

The Broncs got no closer than 67-62 on a rebound basket by Dexter Shankle with 2:01 to play.

Tulsa started three true freshmen for the first time since freshmen became eligible in the 1972-73 season. But it was upperclassmen Brett McDade, Darold Crow and Calvin Walls who added 8 points each in support of Earls.

Tulsa shot 44 percent to 37.5 for the Broncs and outrebounded Pan American 38-32, with Ben Uzoh grabbing 8.