Cowboys sweep '09 Border War

Written by Britt Marsh

Thursday, 26 February 2009 17:37

It took Wyoming seven tries and nearly two months but the Cowboy basketball team finally got the one thing that had been eluding them all season: A Mountain West Conference road victory.

But the 82-79 victory against their bitter rivals from Colorado State University in the annual Border War series was not a stroll in the park by any means.

In fact, Wyoming never led in the first half, and trailed by as many as 11 with just under six minutes to play in the first period. But the Pokes closed out the half on a 16-7 run to pull within two, 35-33, as the teams went into the locker room.

The second half turned out to be just as back-and-forth as the first, even though Wyoming could only pull within a couple points until the 10:23 mark. It was then that the Pokes enjoyed their first lead of the night as Tyson Johnson slammed home two of his 12 points and brought the visiting crowd to their feet.

CSU coach Tim Miles quickly called a timeout, but the damage was already done.

The Rams hung around to make things interesting, but Brandon Ewing was not about to let his fellow seniors lose their final regular season game against CSU.

Ewing scored seven of the Pokes’ nine final points to seal the win, and finished the night with a game-high 21 points, as he also passed Flynn Robinson for second on Wyoming’s all-time scoring list.

“Brandon is a special player, and I’ve sensed it more this last month that all Brandon wants to do is win,” coach Heath Schroyer told the Associated Press. “He will probably get records, but winning means more.”

Schroyer couldn’t have been more correct. After the game, Ewing said he didn’t even look at the scoreboard to see his numbers.

“My focus is and always will be to get a [win],” he said.

Leading MWC Freshman of the Year candidate Afam Muojeke added 17 points and seven rebounds.

Fresh off their first MWC road win of the season, Wyoming will now try for their second in as many tries as they travel to Air Force. The Falcons have not won a single conference game, and have yet to win in 2009 as they have lost 14 straight dating back to New Year’s Eve.

“We are playing better and we have improved, but it’s hard to see that improvement when you don’t get a win,” Falcon coach Jeff Reynolds said in his weekly media address.

“Some games we’re three or four possessions away from a win, but we’re still inconsistent.”

Set time for tip-off is 4 p.m. in the Falcon’s own Clune Arena.

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