Bears Beat UW in Laramie for First Time in 80 Years [VIDEOS]
Andre Spight scored 24 points and Northern Colorado made 14 three-pointers in a 91-84 victory over Wyoming Tuesday night in Laramie.
The Bears out-scored the Cowboys by 33 points from beyond the arc. Spight went 4-9 from deep, while teammate Jalen Sanders was 4-5. Sanders finished with 16 points, as Northern Colorado won for just the eighth time in Laramie and first since 1937.
UW took a 72-71 lead on Justin James lay-up off an assist from Hayden Dalton with 7:20 left in the game. A rebounding foul on the Cowboys’ Cody Kelley put the Bears’ Roberto Vercellino at the foul line. He made both, and UNC never trailed again. A Spight three pushed it out to 76-72 on the next Bears possession.
Northern Colorado led 78-76 when Spight hit another three at the 3:30 mark. That helped the Bears out-score the Pokes 13-8 down the stretch.
The poor performance on the defensive end was the focus of the Wyoming players and head coach Allen Edwards after the game.
The Bears shot 47 percent from the field. They were 45 percent from deep. They also out-rebounded UW 35-33.
Wyoming (9-4) led all of 23 seconds in the game. Their home court winning streak of 13 games overall and 20 straight versus non-conference foes came to an end.
Justin James led five Cowboys in double figures with a game-high 25 points. UW shot a season-best 53.3 percent from the floor, but were just 3-9 from the arc. They also had 14 turnovers.
Wyoming returns to action next Wednesday, Dec. 27, when they open Mountain West Conference action at home against San Diego State. The game starts at 7 p.m.