Cowboys Dominate Closing Minutes in 70-65 Victory at Grand Canyon
- University of Wyoming Athletics Press Release
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Wyoming Cowboys silenced the home crowd in the closing minutes in a 70-65 road win over Grand Canyon on Saturday evening inside the Global Credit Union Arena in Phoenix, Ariz. Simm-Marten Saadi added a career-high 13 points to lead the Pokes with Wyoming using a 12-0 run in the final five minutes of the contest.
“We wrote two things on the board defensively protect the paint and offensively play for each other,” UW head coach Sundance Wicks said. “You want to be playing your best basketball in March and the Pokes are trying to get hot right now. We are worried about playing for each other and that was a happy locker room. All the toughness categories we won tonight and winning plays down the stretch.”
Simm-Marten Saadi recorded double-figures for the first time in his career knocking down three triples going 5-o-f-9 from the field playing only 15 minutes. Leland Walker added 13 points and four assists on the night. Khaden Bennett added nine points and a team-high eight rebounds. Nasir (Naz) Meyer 11 points with three rebound and three steals.
Wyoming shot 40 percent from the field and hit eight threes on the night. The Pokes also went 14-of-19 from the free throw line and scored 17 points off of turnovers. Grand Canyon shot 41 percent and hit seven three pointers. The Cowboys owned a 38-36 lead on the glass with 12 offensive rebounds. The UW bench led outscored Grand Canyon’s 34-2 on the night.
The Cowboys would build an early 8-5 lead thanks to a pair of threes from Bennett and Damarion Dennis in the opening five minutes. The Pokes held GCU without a bucket for over four minutes with Abou Magassa and Walker making it a 13-7 game with 12 minutes left in the half.
Walker gave the Pokes a 18-10 lead halfway through the half with his second jumper as Adam Harakow added a triple the previous trip down the floor. Wyoming went scoreless for nearly five minutes with the Lopes going on a 9-0 run to take a 19-18 lead with six minutes left in the first half.
Grand Canyon went on a 5-0 run for a 26-21 lead, but the Pokes made it a two-point game with a trio of free throws. Wyoming went over four minutes with a basket until Saadi made it a 28-26 game for the Lopes in the final minute of the half. Meyer added a bucket to close the half tied at 28-28. Wyoming shot 33 percent from the field in the half with the Lopes shooting 42 percent.
Wyoming would push the lead to five points early in the second half thanks to a three from Saadi and a jumper from Walker for a 35-30 game. Saadi added a second three for a 38-32 lead with 16 minutes remaining.
GCU battled back, but a Magassa slam made it a 43-39 contest with under 13 minutes remaining. Harakow added a triple and made it a 46-41 game, but GCU battled back forcing turnovers and making it 46-45 with under nine minutes left.
The Lopes tied the game at 50-50 with a three pointer with 6:38 remaining. The teams traded three-point plays and the Lopes took a brief lead until another three from Saadi made it a 56-55 game with just over four minutes remaining.
Walker added an and-one play for a 59-55 lead for the Pokes with 3:36 remaining as part of a 6-0 run. The Pokes would then make it a 12-0 run for a 65-55 lead with 36 seconds left. GCU made it interesting late with three pointers, but Wyoming celebrated the 70-65 win as the home team has never won a game in the series.
Grand Canyon was led by Makaiah Williams with 29 points on the night. He was 5-of-8 from behind the arc. Jaden Henley added 15 points and Nana Owusu-Anane added 12 rebounds to lead all players.
The Pokes return to action on Tuesday with a trip to Boise State to battle the Broncos at 7 p.m. in a contest on the MW Network.
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