The Wyoming Cowboys are celebrating Thanksgiving a little differently this year, making a trip down to Cancun, Mexico for the Cancun Challenge Tournament. On Tuesday, they faced off against Tulane in the semifinal match, completing an incredible 16 point comeback to move to 5-1. Bad shooting plagued both teams, but the Cowboys made timely buckets to overcome the Green Wave.
The Cowboys got down early against Tulane, due mostly to poor shooting, and 7 minutes in, they were down 17-7. Everything was heading in the wrong direction for the Pokes until 5 Obi Agbim points provided a spark for the offense, and within two minutes they cut it to only a 17-15 Tulane advantage.
What followed was a back and forth between the teams, with neither squad being able to build more than a 5 point lead. With about two minutes left, the Pokes held a slim 34-31 lead, and were looking to head into the half with momentum.
Unfortunately, the Green Wave ramped up their defensive pressure in the final minute, forcing two turnovers in the waning moments. Before the Pokes knew it, it turned into a 40-34 Tulane advantage at the end of the first period. The Cowboys had turned the ball over just two times in the 19 minutes before that, and the late giveaways created a huge momentum swing for the Green Wave.
That carried over the break, with Tulane finding another 5 points off the bat to build their largest lead of the night at 45-34, a minute and thirty seconds in. The turnovers continued to stack up, and the Pokes forked the ball over another 3 times early, along with another flare up of bad shooting. When the barrage from Tulane was finally over, they had jumped out to a 52-36 lead, which was a 21-2 point run for the Green Wave since the two minute mark of the first half.
Cowboys don’t just roll over and die though, and the Pokes slowly went on a run of their own, putting up 12 straight and cutting it to a 52-48 Tulane lead with 8 minutes left. Both teams were struggling to make buckets, but Tulane cobbled together another 5 points to keep Wyoming at bay. Despite the struggle, Wyoming continued to push, and with 5 minutes left it was just a 3 point game, 57-54.
Coming down the stretch, it was a battle between the two teams, with both struggling to convert their shots to points. With 53 seconds on clock, Kobe Newton nailed a jumper that knotted it up at 61, the first tie since the first half. After a quick Tulane score, Wyoming dribbled it down the court as time was ticking down, needing points to stay alive. With 10 seconds left, Jordan Nesbitt kicked the ball to Touko Tainamo who nailed a clutch three pointer, giving the Pokes the lead.
The Green Wave mounted a final offensive, but it came up short after a missed three pointer, completing an impressive 16-point Wyoming comeback. Obi Agbim finished with 18 points, 12 of which came in the first half, and Jordan Nesbitt grabbed 13 rebounds to go along with 10 points of his own.
Both teams shot below 40%, with the Pokes making 39.6% to Tulane’s 33.9%. Wyoming was 4-22 from three, but one of those makes came at the perfect time to seal their victory. In a hard fought battle, Wyoming climbed their way to a win, moving to 5-1 on the season. They move on to the finals of the Cancun Challenge on Nov. 27, at 6:30 PM. They are set to play the winner of the LMU vs. Belmont game, before heading back to Laramie.
