CASPER — Afam Muojeke scored 15 points Saturday, helping Wyoming hold off Northern Colorado 76-70 in the Wyoming Shootout.
The Cowboys (5-4) appeared to have the game in hand, leading 50-40 with 10 minutes left.
But Northern Colorado’s Devon Beitzel scored eight straight points to cut Wyoming’s lead to two. Wyoming answered with 12 points from Muojeke and five points each from Waddell and JayDee Luster to weather the storm.
“We were able to execute coming down the stretch and did some things we hadn’t been able to do up until this point,” said Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer.
The difference came from the free-throw line. Wyoming hit 31-of-43 attempts, including 17-of-23 in the second half. Muojeke was 8-of-8 from the line in the final 42 seconds.
“It’s a really disappointing loss,” said Northern Colorado coach Tad Boyle, whose Bears fell to 8-2. “That was a winnable game right there.”
FG FT Reb
UNC Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Proctor 18 2-6 0-2 2-3 1 3 4
Osborne 10 1-4 0-0 2-4 0 2 2
Figures 28 4-12 0-1 0-1 5 5 10
Bonner 12 0-1 0-1 0-1 1 5 0
Beitzel 37 9-19 2-2 2-6 4 3 25
Kaba 21 6-11 5-6 2-5 0 3 18
Lloyd 28 2-7 1-2 1-3 6 3 7
Brereton 8 1-1 0-0 0-2 0 2 2
Arnold 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kingman 13 0-2 2-2 0-3 0 3 2
Montgomery 23 0-3 0-2 2-8 0 2 0
Totals 200 25-66 10-18 11-40 17 31 70
Percentages: FG .379, FT .556. 3-point goals: 10-30, .333 (Beitzel 5-12, Lloyd 2-4, Figures 2-8, Kaba 1-3, Bonner 0-1, Kingman 0-2). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 2 (Proctor, Kaba). Turnovers: 14 (Kingman 3, Beitzel 3, Lloyd 2, Bonner 2, Figures, Brereton, Proctor, Kaba). Steals: 9 (Beitzel 5, Kaba, Osborne, Kingman, Figures). Technical fouls: None.
FG FT Reb
WYOMING Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Thiam 26 2-4 1-4 1-3 2 4 5
Davis 12 1-3 2-2 1-3 0 1 4
Sylla 15 3-5 2-4 1-2 0 4 8
Luster 30 2-4 1-4 3-7 3 3 5
Muojeke 34 2-11 11-12 1-6 1 1 15
Jackson 11 2-5 7-8 0-1 3 1 11
Dermody 35 3-8 0-0 2-4 0 1 8
Waddell 20 5-10 3-3 1-9 0 4 13
Watsabaugh 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Harrison 16 1-2 4-6 0-4 1 1 7
Totals 200 21-52 31-43 10-44 10 20 76
Percentages: FG .404, FT .721. 3-point goals: 3-17, .176 (Dermody 2-6, Harrison 1-1, Luster 0-1, Waddell 0-1, Jackson 0-3, Muojeke 0-5). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 3 (Thiam, Waddell, Sylla). Turnovers: 18 (Muojeke 5, Luster 5, Sylla 3, Thiam 2, Davis, Jackson, Waddell). Steals: 6 (Luster 3, Dermody 2, Sylla). Technical fouls: None.
Northern Colorado 28 42 — 70
Wyoming 35 41 — 76
