Wildcats hold on to beat EWU

Source: Standard-Examiner, Ogden, UtahJan.儲存 03--OGDEN -- The Wildcats were "too geeked up."WSU fell behind 10-0 before regaining its composure in a 74-67 victory over Eastern Washington in the Big Sky Conference opener on Thursday at the Dee Events Center.Freshman guard Jeremy Senglin led the 'Cats with 16 points and sophomore forward Joel Bolomboy and senior center Kyle Tresnak added 13 points apiece as WSU overcame a 30-point night from EWU super sophomore Tyler Harvey.WSU freshman guard Richaud Gittens, making his first career start, finished with nine points and a team-best four assists, while Bolomboy went 7 of 11 from the free throw line and grabbed 12 rebounds to end up with his sixth career double-double."I was a little afraid we might not get off to a good start, because I knew our guys would be nervous," Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. "I knew they'd be probably too geeked up. They were very excited for league play and sometimes that causes (players) to be almost back on your heels and a little bit afraid to make plays, playing reluctant or hesitant."Rahe said he had to shock his team into competing after the first four minutes; Senglin called it getting the jitters out."At the beginning everyone was a little nervous, not scared but nervous because it was the first conference game," Senglin said. "After the (start of the) second half, nobody had that in them anymore."Bolomboy said the 'Cats needed to communicate."The biggest thing was miscommunication on defense," he said. "We fixed it and talked better as a team and things started going our way."With starters Venky Jois and Drew Brandon on the bench with two fouls for Eastern Washington (5-7, 0-1), the first half was all Harvey. Harvey scored 21 of EWU's first 31 points, surpassing his scoring average of 19.4 points per game with over five minutes left in the first half."If he scores 21 again (in the second half), we're going to lose," Rahe said. "We made an adjustment; we decided to deny him the ball and try not to let him catch."Senglin switched over to Harvey on defense."That was a really good job by Jeremy to keep the ball out of his hands," Rahe said. "He lost a little rhythm, he wasn't quite as comfortable, he missed a few more shots. Our whole thing was, he's not going to beat us in the second half. We're going to make someone else beat us."Jois, EWU's 6-7 Australian forward who was the Big Sky freshman of the year last season, only played six minutes in the first half, but scored all 15 of his points after the break as the only other Eagle in double figures.After the early double-digit deficit, Weber State (4-5, 1-0 Big Sky) caught up with a Senglin slam and a Gittens layup with about three minutes left in the first half. WSU led 37-33 at the break.The Wildcats didn't trail again, though the Eagles cut an 11-point WSU second-half lead down to three with under two minutes to play. Bolomboy grabbed a critical rebound off a missed three and made two free throws to give WSU some breathing room and senior guard Jordan Richardson added two more to ice it with 34 seconds left.Weber State won its 19th consecutive regular season Big Sky game at home; its last loss to a Big Sky foe at the Dee Events Center came in Ma迷你倉ch 2011 to the Eagles, who the 'Cats have beaten in nine of their last 10 meetings."Eastern has a good ballclub," Rahe said. "I think (EWU coach) Jim (Hayford) does a really good job of using his personnel wisely and they've got some guys that can score. ... Tyler Harvey is the real deal."WSU outscored Eastern Washington 16-0 off the bench. The Wildcats outrebounded the Eagles 37-29 for their first advantage on the boards against a Division I team this season.* WSU NOTES: Weber State reached the milestone of 950 all-time wins as a Division I program. ... Thursday's attendance was 5,748.Big Sky* NORTH DAKOTA 65, SOUTHERN UTAH 61: At Grand Forks, N.D., Troy Huff scored 25 points and hauled in 11 rebounds to help North Dakota edge Southern Utah.Huff, 9 of 16 from the field with two 3-pointers, got help from Jamal Webb, who scored all 14 of his points in the second half and gave North Dakota (4-8, 1-1 Big Sky) the go-ahead score with 2:04 left. North Dakota trailed 37-36 at the half but the kept the game close and secured the win with a 9-4 spurt in the final minutes.It was Southern Utah's debut Big Sky Conference game.The Thunderbirds (1-9, 0-1) built a 25-16 lead in the first half with a 9-0 run that was snapped by a Huff 3-pointer and couldn't hold off North Dakota down the stretch.Trey Kennedy led Southern Utah with 20 points and John Marshall contributed 10.* NORTHERN ARIZONA 73, MONTANA 65: At Missoula, Mont., Aaseem Dixon scored 23 points, including four free throws in the closing seconds, as Northern Arizona defeated Montana, ending the Grizzlies 31-game home winning streak in Big Sky Conference games.The Lumberjacks (4-8, 1-0 BSC) shot 77.3 percent in the second half, hitting all four of their 3-pointers and 6 of 8 free throws. Max Jacobsen added 21 points and Quinton Upshur 18.The Grizzlies (5-5, 0-1) shot just 35.7 percent in the second half.Kareem Jamar had 21 points and 7 assists and Jordan Gregory 17 for Montana, which led 37-29 at the half. But Dixon scored five straight to put NAU up 41-39 at 14:40 to play.* MONTANA STATE 70, SACRAMENTO STATE 55: At Bozeman, Mont., Calen Coleman came off the bench to score 13 points for Montana State as the Bobcats secured a victory over Sacramento State in a Big Sky opener.Coleman, Marcus Colbert and Stephan Holm each hit three 3's as the Bobcats (6-6, 1-0) combined to score 13 3-pointers on 29 attempts.Zach Mills led Sacramento State (4-6, 0-1) with 19 points on 8 of 13 shooting. He was the only Hornet to score in double digits after the team shot 38.2 percent (21 of 55) from the field.The teams combined for six turnovers and 12 missed shots in the final 6:15.* IDAHO STATE 87, PORTLAND STATE 76: At Pocatello, Idaho, Chris Hansen scored 27 points Thursday, Andre Hatchett added 24 and Idaho State rallied to beat Portland State in their Big Sky opener.Portland State (5-5, 0-1) jumped to an 8-2 lead on treys by Marcus Hall and Tim Douglas, but Idaho State (4-6, 1-0) took a 12-11 lead on a 3-pointer by Evann Hall, then pulled ahead on a 9-2 run for a 39-36 halftime lead.Copyright: ___ (c)2014 the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) Visit the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) at .standard.net Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage