Meyer Plays Hero Late Lifting Pokes Past Air Force, 66-62
- University of Wyoming Athletics Press Release
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
LARAMIE, Wyo. – Freshman Nasir (Naz) Meyer recorded an and-one with 35 seconds left to give the Cowboys a lead that Wyoming wouldn’t relinquish as Wyoming held Air Force scoreless in the final two minutes to earn the 66-62 victory. It marked the 13th home win of the season for the Pokes with Wyoming moving to 16-13 overall and 7-11 in conference play.
“Air Force deserves all the credit and let’s talk about a team that has every reason not to fight, but thats why they are Air Force and the cadets and I have a lot of respect for them,” UW head coach Sundance Wicks said. “They were not going to quit, and I didn’t drive that message home enough and hats off to Air Force because they deserved to win. We snuck away with a win. Adam Harakow showed when we need him and he was massive for us. Simm-Marten was made big plays and Naz was clutch for us late.”
The Cowboys struggled from the field in the contest shooting 35 percent and were 7-of-28 from behind the arc with only two second half makes. Air Force shot 49 percent from the field and 44 percent from behind the arc with eight makes. The Pokes shot 81 percent from the line going 13-of-16 and scored 22 points off 15 Air Force turnovers. UW held a 39-36 advantage on the glass.
Damarion Dennis led the Pokes with 16 points and three assists. He went 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Meyer added 14 points and led the Pokes with eight rebounds tying a career best. Adam Harakow added 14 points off the bench going 5-of-6 from the field, as it marked his first double-figure scoring game since the first meeting with Air Force. Simm-Marten Saadi added nine points in 13 minutes with Kiani Saxon adding seven rebounds.
The Falcons opened the game with back-to-back threes for an early 6-0 lead. Meyer added the first bucket for the Pokes and Walker added a three-pointer for an 8-5 game for AFA with 16 minutes left in the first half.
The Pokes went on a 9-0 run over nearly four minutes with Saadi and Harakow adding a triple for a 11-8 lead with under 14 minutes left in the half. Air Force would battle back and take the lead at 12-11, as Wyoming was held scoreless for over two minutes.
Wyoming would build a lead to six points on Harakow’s second three of game for a 22-16 game with nine minutes left in the first half. He kept leading the charge for the Pokes with a 6-0 run with no field goals from Air Force for over four minutes for a 28-18 lead for the Pokes with six minutes left in the half.
The Pokes would take that double-digit lead into the half holding the Falcons scoreless for two minutes to close the half for a 35-25 lead. UW scored 15 points off turnovers in the opening frame.
The teams traded threes to open the second half, as Air Force trimmed the lead to nine points at 40-31 with under 17 minutes remaining and made it a seven-point game 90 seconds later, but Leland Walker added a triple for a 43-33 game with 15 minutes remaining.
Air Force held the Pokes scoreless for over three and a half minutes and used a 9-0 run to make it a one-point game with nine minutes left. Wyoming pushed the lead to three, but Air Force forced six-straight shots and tied the game at 51-51 with 5:30 remaining.
A pair of free throws from Meyer and a bucket from Saadi made it a 57-53 game with under four minutes left. He made it a six-point game until three-straight threes from Kam Sanders gave Air Force a 62-59 lead with two minutes left.
Meyer made it a one-point game with a bucket with 90 seconds remaining. Meyer came down and recorded an and-one play for a 64-62 lead for the Pokes with 35 seconds remaining. Wyoming added free throws late and took the game 66-62.
The Falcons were led by Sanders with 16 points with nine rebounds. He was 4-of-5 from the three-point line. Eli Robinson added 12 points going 5-of-7 from the field.
The Cowboys close the home portion of the schedule on Tuesday hosting Nevada at 8 p.m. It is part of a doubleheader with Cowgirls. A special Fan Appreciation Night will feature a $25 ticket that gets you admission into both games. Also, special concession prices will be featured during both contests.
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