Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
7-5
South Dakota State
10-3
Wildcats knock off Jackrabbits 99-95
12/23/2015 6:47:00 AM | Men's Basketball
OGDEN -- Three Weber State players surpassed 20 points and the Wildcats shot a season-high 58 percent from the field and held on for a 99-95 win over South Dakota State Tuesday night at the Dee Events Center.
In a high-scoring back-and-forth game, the Wildcats had a 12-point lead at 89-77 with 3:11 to play when the Jackrabbits went on a 16-6 run to cut the lead to two points at 95-93 with 28 seconds to play. Weber State made all four of its free trows in the final 21 seconds to secure the win.
South Dakota State came into the game at 10-2 on the season with four road wins already this year and jumped out to an early 17-9 lead before a14-4 run gave the Wildcats a two-point lead midway through the first half. A 3-pointer at the end of the half gave WSU a two-point lead at halftime and the 'Cats never trailed in the second half.
Weber State (7-5) shot 58.8 percent from the field, their best shooting performance of the season. The 'Cats have shot 50 percent or better in seven of their 12 games. Weber State also was 12-of-24 from 3-point range and dished out 15 assists with six blocked shots.
South Dakota State shot 44 percent from the field and made 10 3-pointers. The two teams each grabbed 38 rebounds and the Wildcats committed 16 turnovers.
“That was a hard-fought game against a really good basketball team,” said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. “They are a very well coached team with a lot of veterans and they wouldn't let us put them away. We got off to a sluggish start but once we started to play faster things got better. Our second half defense improved and we're really happy to get the win.”
The 99 points scored was the most by Weber State in a game against a Division I opponent since 2000.
Three Wildcats surpassed 20 points in the win and four players scored in double figures. Joel Bolomboy had his nation-leading 11th double-double, finishing with 22 points and 14 rebounds. He was 7-of-11 from the field and added two blocked shots.
Jeremy Senglin also had 22 points and knocked down seven 3-pointers, tied for the sixth most in a game in WSU history. He was 7-of-11 from 3-point range added a game-high six assists.
Junior Kyndahl Hill had a career-high 21 points and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line. He also grabbed six rebounds and had two blocks.
Dusty Baker added 10 points off the bench and Zach Braxton and Richaud Gittens each had eight points.
The Wildcats have just one non-conference game remaining before Big Sky play begins. WSU will host Multnomah Monday, Dec. 28 before opening conference play Jan. 2 against Idaho State.
