EL PASO, Texas (AP) Omar Thomas led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points as Texas-El Paso defeated Delaware State 83-50 in the opening round of the Las Vegas Holiday Invitational basketball tournament Sunday.
Thomas, who paced five Miners in double figures, was 6-of-7 from the field, 3-of-4 from the line and had five steals.
UTEP went on a 17-0 run after Darrin Shine's 3-pointer gave Delaware State a 15-14 lead with 9:14 left in the first half. Gio St. Amant accounted for 10 of those points.
The Miners (0-1) took a 31-15 lead with 3:45 left in the first half and led 41-21 at the half.
Will Kimble scored 13 points for UTEP. St. Amant finished with 12 and Miguel Ayala and Jason Williams had 11 each.
Jahsha Bluntt led Delaware State (0-2) with 14, all but two of those coming in the first eight minutes.
UTEP held Delaware State to 34 percent shooting, had 13 steals and forced 23 turnovers which led to 36 UTEP points.
