Late jumper sinks Cowboys

by Bobby Abplanalp
Wyoming Sports.org

Whitney Coleman’s’ jumper with three seconds left carried the Monmouth Hawks past the Wyoming Cowboys 75-73 in the second game of the World Vision Basketball Challenge Friday night at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie.

Wyoming, 2-3, led by two at halftime after trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half, as reserve guard Desmar Jackson and forward A.J. Davis rallied the Cowboys back into the game and the fight was on.

Monmouth, 2-3, opened the second half on a 25-15 run to take a 57-49 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining, but the Pokes would come back with a 10-0 run of their own to regain the lead by two.

The Cowboys would lead by five on two occasions in the half, but Wyoming could not put the Hawks away.

Wyoming then took a 73-69 lead on a driving layup by Jackson with 2:48 left in the game, but unfortunately for the Pokes, Monmouth would score the final six points of the contest with the final dagger coming on Coleman’s jumper with three seconds left. The Cowboys final heave came up short at the end.

“We didn’t play very well in any facet of the game,” UW head coach Heath Schroyer said. “When we don’t play very well, especially as young and inexperienced as we are, anybody can beat you, and they (Monmouth) did. But I give credit to Monmouth, too. They played well and made big plays down the stretch.”

Jackson had a career-high 22 points off the bench, which led the team.

“I thought Dez (Jackson) played well, which was a bright spot,” Schroyer said. “He’s a true freshman, and he’s going to be a special player.”

Leading scorer Afam Muojeke sat out with a leg injury and small forward Thomas Manzano started in his place and finished with seven points.

Davis and Adam Waddell recorded 10 points apiece, but despite the absence of Muojeke, Schroyer says he needs his team to really step up.

“We’re down our best player right now and we have a lot of young players logging a lot of minutes,” Schroyer said. “We have to find a way to make shots and win a game. We had some good looks around the basket that didn’t go down.”

Monmouth was led by Colman’s game-high 24 points, while Justin Sofman, Ed Waite, and Travis Taylor scored in double figures with 16, 11 and 10 points respectively.

Wyoming will be back at it again Saturday to try and get back in tournament championship contention by hosting the Hampton Pirates at 7:30 p.m., while Monmouth takes on the Pepperdine Waves at 4:30 p.m., in the Arena-Auditorium.