Cowboys win tournament finale

by Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

A little frustration wrapped tightly into a big ball turned into the Wyoming Cowboys first win in over a week Sunday.

A.J. Davis scored a career-high 20 points as Wyoming edged Pepperdine 86-82 in overtime Sunday in the World Vision Basketball Challenge.

The Cowboys (3-4), lost a 13-point second half-lead, but outscored the Waves 7-3 in overtime for their lone win of the tournament to snap a three-game skid.

"I thought it was a really good win for our guys, to come back after three tough days, and to bounce back short-handed and gut it out for a win against a really good team," Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said. "I couldn't be happier for my guys, to be able to gut that out."

Tournament MVP Keion Bell scored 28 points for the Pepperdine (3-4), which won the tournament based on earlier wins over Hampton and Monmouth.

The Cowboys appeared to be in control in the second half, leading by 11 with 4:49 to play, but Pepperdine chipped away and tied the game on a 3-pointer by Joshua Lowery with nine seconds left.

The Cowboys' JayDee Luster missed an off-balance jumper with five seconds left and Bell had a chance to win it in regulation, missing a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Davis, who scored five of Wyoming's seven overtime points, got a steal and layup with 2:33 left in overtime to put the Cowboys in front for good at 83-81.

"I just trusted my teammates and they just trusted me," Davis said. "Coach (Schroyer) emphasizes trust and he just wants us to come out and play as one, whether it is as a coaching staff or as a team, and that is what we did."

Thomas Manzano and Adam Waddell scored 15 points each for the Cowboys, with Djibril Thiam adding 10.

"This is exactly what we needed," Waddell said. "It's been a long last couple of games. We needed this win right now in in the worst way. We need to build on this, and thankfully we have a whole week to work on some stuff."

Luster had a solid all-around game with nine points, nine assists and five steals.

"It was real gratifying to come out here tonight," Luster said. "Not a lot of people thought we were going to come out of here with a victory, but we believe in ourselves and it was a team win."

Jonathan Dupre scored 16 for Pepperdine, followed by Lorne Jackson with 11 and Lowery with 10.

"We made too many mistakes to win the game, we put them on the foul line too many times," said Pepperdine coach Tom Asbury. "I think we may have been a little tired; three games in three days is grind, but we all had to do it. Overall, I'm happy with my young team's performance."

The Cowboys shot just 41 percent from the field and hit just 4 of 18 3-pointers, but Wyoming had only three 3-pointers in 39 attempts in their previous three games -- all losses. Two early 3-pointers by Ryan Dermody and Davis gave them a boost, Schroyer said.

"To be honest, I think the difference was just making a couple of shots from the perimeter in the first half," Schroyer said. "I could sense that the guys were more relaxed and were not as uptight. We were able to knock down shots and we guarded pretty well."
　
The Cowboys will now have the week to prepare for Loyola-Marymount next Saturday.

"I believe we took a real step toward growing up today," Schroyer said. "We've faced some adversity with Afam (Muojeke) being injured, and we had a lot of young players step up and make plays."