'Cats drop first game in Atlantic Slam 62-61 to Gardner-Webb

MONCTON, New Brunswick, Canada - Weber State dropped its first game of the season as the 'Cats fell 62-61 to Gardner-Webb in the first game of the Atlantic Slam Tournament Friday afternoon.

Weber State led by as many as 12 points in the first half and held a 34-27 lead at halftime. WSU led by seven points with 14:00 to play in the second half when Gardner-Webb went on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 43-43 midway through the half.

The Wildcats led by five points with 2:25 to play after two Dillon Jones free throws, before a GWU 3-pointer cudt the lead to two. KJ Cunningham made two free throws with 1:38 to play to give Weber State a four-point lead but Gardner-Webb scored five-straight points sto take a 60-59 lead with 19 seconds left.

Jones was fouled and made two free throws with 17 seconds left but the Runnin' Bulldogs made a layup with seven seconds to regain the lead.

Viljami Vartiainen's 3-pointer at the buzzer was just off to secure the win for Gardner-Webb from the Big South Conference.

The Wildcats shot 46 percent from the field but were just 3 of 15 from 3-point range. The Runnin' Bulldogs outrebounded Weber State 29-19 and had four blocked shots.

" It certainly was not our best performance tonight," said WSU head coach Eric Duft. "We were off on both ends of the court and didn't make the plays we needed to on either end that you have to make to win. You play these games to challenge yourself and so we will get back at it tomorrow night and see if we can play better."

Jones, the National Player of the Week, once again led the Wildcats with 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds. He was 6 of 12 from the field and 11 of 14 from the free throw line. Jones also had three assists and three steals.

Vartiainen had a career-high off the bench in his third game as the Wildcat. He scored 10 points on 3 of 5 shooting, including a 3-pointer.

Cunningham had a season-high nine points on 3 of 5 shooting. Steven Verplanken and Alex Tew each added seven points for the 'Cats.

Weber State will take on Yale in the second game of the tournament on Saturday evening. Tipoff is at 4:00 p.m. Mountain time (7 p.m. Atantic time) in Moncton.

WSU will also play Colgate on Sunday.

All games of the tournament are televised on ESPN+.

'Cats drop first game in Atlantic Slam 62-61 to Gardner-Webb

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Team Stats

Dillon Jones

KJ Cunningham

Viljami Vartiainen

Steven Verplancken

Players Mentioned

KJ Cunningham

Dillon Jones

Alex Tew

Viljami Vartiainen

Weber State University Athletics