It really does seem like every night out in the Mountain West is going to be a battle for the Sundance Wicks’ Wyoming Cowboys.
Despite not finding a conference win at home last year, the Air Force Falcons–who hadn’t won a Mountain West game in their home arena since February 10, 2023–looked keen on taking down the Cowboys, who trailed the Falcons for nearly 30 minutes in the contest.
This one was going to take a nice effort from some unlikely heroes, considering the Cowboys were down easily their best player and leading scorer, Obi Agbim. Agbim, who averages just over 18 points a night for the Pokes, had big shoes to fill, as no other Cowboy on the roster has produced over 10 points a game.
It was a balanced effort from some of those unlikely heroes that ultimately got the Cowboys over the line in this one, as four players finished in double figures on the way to a 70-65 win over the Falcons.
“There was a lot of big time plays by big time players tonight, just stepping up in those moments,” Wicks said postgame.
Kobe Newton, who led the way for the Cowboys with game-high 16 points, had struggled mightily in the Cowboys’ last two outings, scoring only two points off a pair of free throws in the Cowboys’ two conference outings before heading to Colorado Springs. Tonight, he finished 4/5 from deep and a perfect 4/4 from the charity stripe to earn him those game-high 16 points.
Dontaie Allen also caught fire from deep in this one, as the senior transfer has come on strong lately after a rough start to the season, as he finished his night 14 points and a perfect 4/4 mark from deep.
“The two sniper gang, Dontaie and Kobe, go eight for nine from three man, I mean it’s an insane blistering [percentage] from three,” Wicks said of the pair.
Matija Belic and Jordan Nesbitt rounded out the Pokes in double figures, as they finished with 13 and 12, respectively. Nesbitt also had his fifth double-double of the season, as he finished with 10 rebounds as well.
However, one of the biggest performances of the night may have came by the hands of AJ Wills, who started in place of Agbim and finished the night playing all 40 minutes of the contest. While the sophomore transfer only finished with five points, he also finished with five assists and was extremely important in taking care of the ball for the Pokes, as they had to break a full-court press almost every possession.
“We needed him to control tempo and pace and break the press, and that’s what he does. He played 40 minutes and hit two clutch free throws,” Wicks said.
The Cowboys next outing comes in the form of the New Mexico Lobos, who are currently undefeated at 4-0 in league play. Tip is slated for 8 p.m. inside the Arena-Auditorium.
