Weber State University Athletics
Saturday, February 13
Ogden, Utah
7:00 p.m.
Weber State University
81
vs
76
Northern Colorado
Weber State Holds Off Northern Colorado, 81-76, Saturday Night in Ogden.
2/14/2010 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Northern Colorado's center of attention was focused on the Big Sky's leading scorer, Damian Lillard, the Bears picked the wrong center. WSU pivot man Steve Panos (Sr. Center) scored a career high 29 points, hitting 10-13 shots from the floor and 9-10 at the line, leading the Wildcats to a hard-fought 81-76 win over second place Northern Colorado, Saturday night before 5,819 at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah.
The win gives Weber State (17-8 / 11-2 BSC) a two game lead over the Bears (20-6 / 9-3 BSC) with three games left for each team on the schedule. It also gives the Wildcats a split with Bears who won 84-75 in Greeley, Colorado back on January 7.
“That was very hard fought game by both teams,” said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. “I thought they came in here with a great plan of attack and played extremely hard. I told our guys at half time they needed to match their level of intensity and I though we came out with a great deal of energy and purpose.”
Northern Colorado, playing with starting forward Taylor Montgomery (6-7, 220 Jr.) who did not make trip due to an injury, controlled the first half hitting 13-24 shots from the floor, which included 7-13 (.538) from the three-point arc, to take a 39-36 lead. Will Figures scored 12 points, while Panos had 13 for the 'Cats, who were a respectable 12-24 (.500) from the field and 7-1 (.636) from the arc.
The Bears biggest lead of the game came with 5:06 left in the first half, 33-26 on a three-pointer by reserve guard Elliott Lloyd, but Nick Hansen (Sr. Guard) quickly answered with a three-ball and added two more in the final two minutes giving him 12 first half points on 4-4 shooting from the arc.
The second half was a battle between WSU's big, Panos (6-8, 245 Sr. Center, and Northern Colorado's small, Will Figures ( 5-9, 155 Sr. Guard). Panos scored 16 second half points while Figures single-handedly keep the Bears close, scoring 21 of his game high 33 points after the break.
With 13:00 left, following a tip in by Elliott Lloyd, the Bears closed to within two at 54-52. That's where the Wildcats grabbed the momentum which was ignited by Hansen's sixth three-pointer of the game, followed by a jumper from Franklin Session and capped by a three-ball from Lindsey Hughey, giving the Wildcats a 62-52 lead, which turns out was their largest lead of the game.
The Bears battled back to with four at 70-66 on two free throws from Will Figures, but Damian Lillard put a dagger into the heart of the Bears with a three-pointer at the 2:49 mark giving the Wildcats a 73-66 margin.
Figures then went work scoring five unanswered points, the last one deep three-pointer with 1:25 remaining, pulling his team back to within two at 73-71.
Panos came through with his final three points of the night, making a bucket and a foul shot with 1:02 left and the Wildcats were back on top 76-71.
Northern Colorado came back, worked the clock, and were rewarded with a dunk from Mike Proctor with 40 seconds left. The Bears immediately fouled Franklin Session, a 55 percent free throw shooter. Session made one of two to make it 77-73.
Neal Kingman's three-ball rimmed out with 36 seconds left and Kyle Bullinger corralled the rebound. He was fouled by Will Figures and calmly sank both free throws with 27 seconds left giving the 'Cat's a six-point lead at 79-73..
Figures miss fired on a long three-pointer with 18 seconds left and this time it was Darin Mahoney who was there to clean up the mess. His two free throws with 15 seconds left sealed the deal. Figures did make a 28 footer with less than five seconds left to conclude his scoring for the night.
For all of the heroics by Panos, it was probably the awakening of Nick Hansen which made the difference. Hansen tied the WSU school record for Three-Point Shooting Percentage in a game (min. 5 attempts), hitting 6-6 from the floor. He now shares the mark with Alex Fisher who came 6-6 in a 97-80 at home over BYU back on Dec. 4, 1996.
The Wildcats shot a sizzling 14-23 (.609) from the field in the second half and ended the game making just over 55 percent overall and 11-19 (.579) from the arc. WSU out rebounded the Bears 34-22.
Weber State now gets a week of rest before tangling with arch-rival Idaho State in the last regular season home game of the 2009-10 campaign on Saturday, February 20 beginning at 7:05 p.m. (MST) at the Dee Events Center.
The win gives Weber State (17-8 / 11-2 BSC) a two game lead over the Bears (20-6 / 9-3 BSC) with three games left for each team on the schedule. It also gives the Wildcats a split with Bears who won 84-75 in Greeley, Colorado back on January 7.
“That was very hard fought game by both teams,” said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. “I thought they came in here with a great plan of attack and played extremely hard. I told our guys at half time they needed to match their level of intensity and I though we came out with a great deal of energy and purpose.”
Northern Colorado, playing with starting forward Taylor Montgomery (6-7, 220 Jr.) who did not make trip due to an injury, controlled the first half hitting 13-24 shots from the floor, which included 7-13 (.538) from the three-point arc, to take a 39-36 lead. Will Figures scored 12 points, while Panos had 13 for the 'Cats, who were a respectable 12-24 (.500) from the field and 7-1 (.636) from the arc.
The Bears biggest lead of the game came with 5:06 left in the first half, 33-26 on a three-pointer by reserve guard Elliott Lloyd, but Nick Hansen (Sr. Guard) quickly answered with a three-ball and added two more in the final two minutes giving him 12 first half points on 4-4 shooting from the arc.
The second half was a battle between WSU's big, Panos (6-8, 245 Sr. Center, and Northern Colorado's small, Will Figures ( 5-9, 155 Sr. Guard). Panos scored 16 second half points while Figures single-handedly keep the Bears close, scoring 21 of his game high 33 points after the break.
With 13:00 left, following a tip in by Elliott Lloyd, the Bears closed to within two at 54-52. That's where the Wildcats grabbed the momentum which was ignited by Hansen's sixth three-pointer of the game, followed by a jumper from Franklin Session and capped by a three-ball from Lindsey Hughey, giving the Wildcats a 62-52 lead, which turns out was their largest lead of the game.
The Bears battled back to with four at 70-66 on two free throws from Will Figures, but Damian Lillard put a dagger into the heart of the Bears with a three-pointer at the 2:49 mark giving the Wildcats a 73-66 margin.
Figures then went work scoring five unanswered points, the last one deep three-pointer with 1:25 remaining, pulling his team back to within two at 73-71.
Panos came through with his final three points of the night, making a bucket and a foul shot with 1:02 left and the Wildcats were back on top 76-71.
Northern Colorado came back, worked the clock, and were rewarded with a dunk from Mike Proctor with 40 seconds left. The Bears immediately fouled Franklin Session, a 55 percent free throw shooter. Session made one of two to make it 77-73.
Neal Kingman's three-ball rimmed out with 36 seconds left and Kyle Bullinger corralled the rebound. He was fouled by Will Figures and calmly sank both free throws with 27 seconds left giving the 'Cat's a six-point lead at 79-73..
Figures miss fired on a long three-pointer with 18 seconds left and this time it was Darin Mahoney who was there to clean up the mess. His two free throws with 15 seconds left sealed the deal. Figures did make a 28 footer with less than five seconds left to conclude his scoring for the night.
For all of the heroics by Panos, it was probably the awakening of Nick Hansen which made the difference. Hansen tied the WSU school record for Three-Point Shooting Percentage in a game (min. 5 attempts), hitting 6-6 from the floor. He now shares the mark with Alex Fisher who came 6-6 in a 97-80 at home over BYU back on Dec. 4, 1996.
The Wildcats shot a sizzling 14-23 (.609) from the field in the second half and ended the game making just over 55 percent overall and 11-19 (.579) from the arc. WSU out rebounded the Bears 34-22.
Weber State now gets a week of rest before tangling with arch-rival Idaho State in the last regular season home game of the 2009-10 campaign on Saturday, February 20 beginning at 7:05 p.m. (MST) at the Dee Events Center.
Players Mentioned
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