The Cowboys used their hot shooting from beyond the arc to make 12 threes to lead them to a win over the Furman Paladins in their final game at the Myrtle Beach Invitation. The win earns them a 2-1 mark at the tournament, ending their run at 5th place.
The game would already start out sloppy, as both teams would trade turnovers, a mark the Cowboys have been needing to improve upon as their first two games of the Myrtle Beach Invitational have included 41 total turnovers. Kot would start the scoring for the Cowboys, knocking down a corner a three. Caden Powell would score off a nice feed from Sam Griffin and Kot would hit his second shot as the Cowboys would start the game with an early 7-0 lead until the Paladins would knock down their first three. Griffin would answer the Paladin three with his first two and a quick three to open up a 12-3 Cowboy lead.
The Paladins would finally find their mark after the Cowboys opened up their 9 point lead, as they’d go on a quick 8-0 run to make it a one point game until Kot would slice in the lane and score to answer. The Paladin 1-3-1 zone would give the Cowboys some trouble, until Kobe Newton would break the zone from beyond the arc with a deep three and Brendan Wenzel would hit his first two threes of the tournament as the Cowboys were hot beyond the arc to start this game to extend the lead to 25-15. The Paladins would once again go on a run, this time a 7-0 spurt before a Griffin three would answer. The Cowboys would go on a bit of a run themselves as the game would be 32-26 late in the first half. Powell would knock down some free throws and snag an offensive free throw and kick it out to Wenzel who would knock down his third three to give the Cowboys a 37-28 lead at the half.
The Paladins would come out the break finishing a three point play but Griffin would answer with a nice fadeaway jumper in response.and knock down a three. Kot would also cash in a three in transition to open up a big 45-31 lead for the Cowboys. Griffin would continue to be on fire as he’d knock down another deep three to push the Cowboy run to 11 straight until the Paladins would finally answer and go on a 7-0 run themselves to make it a 10 point game until Powell would score off an offensive rebound to make it 50-38. Powell and Kot would both hit free throws but the Paladins would bring it back within single digits at 53-46. Griffin and Kot use their best efforts to push the lead back up to 11 midway through the second half.
The Paladins would keep pushing to come back, but the Cowboys would stay hot from beyond the arc as Newton would knock down his second triple. This wouldn’t be enough to keep the Paladins off their back, though, as they would complete a four point play to make it a four point game at 62-58. Powell would end the scoring run from the Paladins, but that would be quickly answered as it was 64-60 with 5 minutes left in the game. Griffin and Kot would score, but the Paladins would continue to answer to keep within 4. The Cowboys’ defensive efforts would help them keep their lead, pushing it back up to 8 before a Paladin three plus two free throws would bring it to 70-67 with 1:40 left. Wenzel would knock down a clutch three on the Cowboys’ next offensive set and Powell would hit two free throws to extend the lead back to 8 with a 1:15 left. The Paladins still wouldn’t go away, though, as a three would bring them back to 5 down with 37.5 left. The Cowboys would knock down their free throws late to win 78-71.
The Cowboys shot well from the field and beyond the arc in the game, as they were 47.5% from the field and an even better 48% from three. The Cowboys were better handling the ball this game, as they only had 13 turnovers along with 18 assists. The Paladins were 41.5% from the field but the Cowboys ran them well off the three point line, as they shot only 23.5% from three.
The Cowboys had four players in double figures, led by Griffin with 26 and Kot with 20. Wenzel finally found his mark from beyond the arc, as he was 4/6 from three with 13 points. Powell recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds along with 4 assists and 4 blocks. Newton came off the bench to score 6 as well.
The Cowboys will travel to Austin, Texas next Sunday to take on the 19th ranked Texas Longhorns with the game set to tip off at 1 p.m.
