@UNCO_MBB Holds on to Win Fourth Straight

Tuesday, December 19

Laramie, Wyo.

7 pm

University of Northern Colorado

9-3

University of Wyoming

9-4

Northern Colorado

Wyoming Cowboys

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

12/20/2017 12:32:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Bears end three Wyoming winning streaks in one night

By: Kurt Maddox, UNCBears.com

Laramie, Wyo.—Northern Colorado has not won in Laramie in an average lifetime, 80 years. This statement is no more as the Bears only trailed once in their 91-84 win over the Wyoming Cowboys. This streak is not the only one that UNC stopped tonight as Wyoming had won 20 non-conference and 13-straight games overall in the Arena Auditorium. Bears are now 9-3 on the season and extend their win streak to four-in-a-row.

How It Happened
The Bears brought their hot hands up to windy and cold Laramie as UNC jumped out to a 15-0 lead with nothing but 3's. The phenomenal freshman Jalen Sanders drained three of those five long-distance shots. On the other side of the coin, the blue and gold got into foul trouble early. Tanner Morgan was called for two early and sat for the final 17 minutes of the half.

Wyoming charged back and tied it at 31 with 6:58 to go in the half. The Pokes came back on free throws as they were shooting them for more than half of the 20 minutes. UNC never trailed in the first 20 minutes and up 47-45 at the half.

UNC built its lead to close to 10 multiple times in the second half but Wyoming clawed back time after time and took its only lead 72-71 with 7:12 left in the half. Northern Colorado retook the lead with two Roberto Vercellino free throws and did not look back from there.

Andre Spight took the team on his shoulder and scored ten of the last 20 points for the Bears. Two of those were free throws late and Anthony Johnson hit two freebies to wrap up the win for UNC. Spight had a team-high 24 to go with his 10 assists giving him his first double-double of the season. Jalen Sanders finished with 16 and three more Bears scored in doubles tonight as Jordan Davis and Johnson each had 13 while Roberto Vercellino had 11 in his extended minutes.

Game Changer
Spight with his first double-double led the way for the Bears in points and assists. Dre took the ball to the hoop more and completed the game 8-of-18 from the field and 4-of-9 from deep. The Arizona State transfer also hit four of his five free throws. The 10 assists are the first time this year any UNC player has reached double digits in dishes.

Key Stat
Sharing the ball was the key to this victory in Laramie. UNC handed out 16 assists on its 32 made baskets in the game. The Bears had been averaging 11 assists per game and Spight almost had that by himself.

In Their Words
Head Coach Jeff Linder
Opening Statement
"I am incredibly proud of our guys. I have a lot of respect for coach Edwards and the Wyoming Cowboys. I told him before the game that he didn't walk into an easy situation in taking over for coach Larry Shyatt. Not to take the safe route and to do what the other coach did and play in a way that you are comfortable playing says a lot about coach Edwards. I know the Mountain West and Wyoming is an upper-half Mountain West team with a lot of talent. Our guys came in here with a chip on their shoulder with something to prove. They knew they were going to be comfortable in this environment. They have played on the road all year long and played against tough teams. For our guys to fight through all the ebbs and flows of the game, it was just a total team effort."

On Ending Wyoming's winning streaks
"Maybe it is my former boss at Boise State Leon Rice who has seemed to end a lot of streaks so maybe he rubbed off on me. We told our guys to enjoy the moment, enjoy playing here, and enjoy playing in an atmosphere like this. This gives them the confidence to come in here and not have to play great. You can come in here and play good and still give yourself a chance to win if you really stick together. I thought our guys for 40 minutes really stuck together and played every possession as hard as they could an sometimes you might lose in doing that but in the long run you are going to win a lot more than you are going to lose."

On Coaching with a Heavy Heart
"Tonight, I had a heavy heart thinking about a good coaching friend of mine. It was someone that I didn't play for but he did recruit me out of high school but he was somebody that affected a lot of people in the right way. Coach Lowell Roumph was the head coach of Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado passed away last week. His service was today. I really wanted to get there. I watched it online. For someone like myself who never played for him but recruited his players. He always took the time to reach out and see how I was doing. He was a mentor and in the brief talks we had, he just gave me a lot of wisdom. For him to pass suddenly last week, my heart and condolences go out to his wife, his family, and Northeastern Junior College. He is someone who really impacted the city of Sterling and someone who I am going to really miss and is someone that the people in Sterling are going to miss. This was a win for Coach Roumph and the UNC Bears even though he was not an alum. He was someone who loved Greeley and Northeastern Colorado. He loved Northern Colorado kids. He is someone when we signed Bodie Hume from Sterling High School, he called and congratulated me and he didn't have to reach out but he is a guy that always wanted to reach out and that one was for Coach Roumph."

Freshman Jalen Sanders on the hot start
Andre Spight: "It was this man right here Jalen Sanders." Sanders: "It wasn't just me. We were getting stops. I was just feeling my shot today. I give props to my teammates for getting stops and fining me in the corner."

On Ending their Streaks
"I had no idea those streaks even existed. It's pretty cool to end them. It was just great coming out here with my teammates and getting the win."

Redshirt Senior Andre Spight
On Wyoming's ability to keep clawing back into the game
"I give credit to our coaching staff because they keep putting confidence in us. They always stress about moving on to the next play even if get a turnover or miss a bad shot, just to move onto the next play and that really does big things for us because I am not worried about the last play and my teammates and coaches have confidence in me on the next play."

On Ending the Streaks of Wyoming
"It's a new team and it is a new culture so we are looking to do new things."

Notable Stats

UNC keeps boosting their 3-point shooting percentage each game in the four-game winning streak. The Bears went 14 for 31 (45.2%) from deep. The 31 3's was over half of the shots taken by Northern Colorado in the win.
Despite being the smaller team, UNC outrebounded Wyoming 35-33. The advantage was on the offensive end of the court as the Bears pulled down eight boards while the Pokes only had three o-boards.
Coach Linder played everyone because of early foul trouble but Matej Drgon and Jonatan Reyes. Of those who played, only two didn't score in the game. The Bears bench contributed 28 points in the victory.

What's Next
Northern Colorado will conclude their tour de Mountain West when they visit Jordan Davis' hometown of Las Vegas to take on the streaking UNLV Runnin' Rebels December 22.

The Bears round out 2017 by opening Big Sky Conference play at home with a 7 pm tip December 29 versus Eastern Washington and an afternoon tip of 2 pm New Year's Eve against Idaho. Tickets are available at UNCBears.com, at the UNC Box Office M-F from Noon-5pm or at 970.351.1679 during those same business hours.

Holiday Break
The University of Northern Colorado, including the Ticket Office, will be closed the week of December 29.