Freshman Ben Aird scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Utah Valley to a 61-56 win over New Jersey Institute of Technology on Thursday night, clinching the Great West Conference regular-season title.
The Wolverines (19-10, 11-1), who have won five straight and nine of their last 10, swept the season series against the Highlanders (14-14, 8-3).
NJIT, the last conference team with a chance to catch Utah Valley for a share of the title, saw its seven-game home winning streak snapped.
Isiah Williams also scored 17 points for the Wolverines, who led 32-20 at halftime and still had a 10-point cushion with 7:44 to play. After the Highlanders used a 9-2 run to get to 54-51 with 2:19 left, Utah Valley went on a 5-0 run to lead by eight with 19 seconds to go. Williams scored four points in the spurt.
Jheryl Wilson led NJIT with 18 points and Chris Flores added 14.
