The Cowboys won their first game in four tries in their final home game in the season, giving their five seniors a nice finish to their home campaign, where they finished 9-5 in Laramie this season after a nice win over the Air Force Falcons.
The Cowboys enjoyed good balance on the offensive side of the ball and also demonstrated one of their best efforts on the defensive side of the ball in conference play this season, holding the Falcons 41.2% from the field and 38.9% from deep.
Despite gaining a 19 point lead in the second half, the Cowboys had to use some late heroics to hold off the Falcons who came surging back to make it a four point game late in the second half.
“That first seven minutes in the second half set the tone. Down the stretch we held them off and Akuel Kot made some big shots and had some big assists and for Brendan Wenzel to make those dagger threes on senior night was great to see,” head coach Jeff Linder said postgame.
The Falcons would jump out on the Cowboys early as the Cowboy offense couldn’t get anything going as the Falcons would cruise to a 8-3 lead early as they’d hit two straight threes early in the game. It wouldn’t take the Cowboys too long to get going on a 7-0 run from that point with Kenny Foster finding himself with a basket off a nice feed from Akuel Kot and Brendan Wenzel would hit his first three of the night. The Falcons wouldn’t go away though, as their three point shooting would keep them on pace with the Cowboys as they’d take a 20-19 lead late in the half, as both teams were struggling to score late in the half. Sam Griffin would hit a pair of threes late, though, as the Cowboys would go on an 8-0 run late that would only be ended by a last second shot going in from the Falcons to make it 27-22 for the Cowboys at half.
The Cowboys would come out of the break with a head of steam, as they’d score 14 straight points, holding the Falcons scoreless for the first six minutes of the second half taking a 41-22 lead. The Falcons would answer that run with eight straight of their own, surging back behind three straight three point shots. The Falcons would eventually make it a four point game, bringing the game to 60-56 in favor of the Cowboys. However, the late efforts of Wenzel, who would hit two straight threes late to maintain the lead for the Cowboys as they’d hold on late to win 74-63.
The Cowboys were led by the three headed monster of Wenzel, Griffin and Kot, led by Wenzel with 20 points and followed by Griffin and Kot both with 19. Cam Manyawu nearly had a double-double, pulling down a team-high 14 rebounds to go along with eight points.
The Cowboys finish the regular season in Fresno, taking on the Fresno State Bulldogs at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
