Cowboys knock off Bears

The Wyoming Cowboys made the most of their trip up to Casper for BlueCross BlueShield of Wyoming Shootout. The Cowboys improved to 5-4 with a tough 76-70 victory over Northern Colorado tonight.

Leading scorer Afam Muojeke returned for the Cowboys after missing the last two weeks with a knee injury. His 15 points led the Cowboys but was largely innefective for most game shooting just 2 for 11 from the field. With the game on the line the Pokes but ball in Muojeke's hands and Northern Colorado kept putting him on the line. Eight free throws in the final minute from Muojeke secured the victory.

Adam Waddell and Jaydee Luster had several big plays in the second half to keep the Pokes ahead. Luster had several steals that led to Cowboy scores. Luster finished with 5 points 7 rebounds and 3 assists and 3 steals. Despite being in foul trouble most of the game Waddel finished with 13 points and a team high 9 rebounds in just 20 minutes. Clutch boards and free throws from Waddell kept the Bears from coming back.

Northern 8-2 started the game with an 8-0 run but couldn't hold on as Wyoming held a 38-25 halftime lead. Devon Beitzel got hot in the second half scoring 21 of his 25 points including five 3's to lead the Bears.

Big contributions from the bench tonight as the Pokes had 39 points from the non starters. Desmar Jackson had 8 of his 11 points in the first half.

Wyoming has now won three in a row after dropping the three games prior.
Next up the Cowboys travel to Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday to take on the #9 ranked Tennessee Volunteers.

AWARDS

Cowboy Joe: Waddell had two 3 point plays and played smart despite being in foul trouble to keep the Cowboys ahead. 13 points/11 rebounds.

Cowboy Low: Djibril Thiam was fairly innefective for most of the game with 5 points and 3 rebounds in 26 minutes. Despite shooting making 89% of his ft's on year season, finished only 1 of 4 tonight.

Cowboy Foe: Devon Beitzel scored 21 points in the second half alone. Finished with 25 for the game along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

Men's Hoops: Season Preview

Pictured: Jaydee Luster (front) and Boubacar Syalla (back)


Head Coach Heath Schroyer has certaintly done a lot with the team since taking over two years ago. Last season the Cowboys finished 19-14 (7-9 MWC) and earned a post berth by playing in the CBI tournament.

The Cowboys certainly have plenty of new faces to fill in for all the talent that graduated last season. Gone is Brandon Ewing the leading scorer in the Mountain West last year as well Sean Ogirri and Tyler Johnson the #2 and #4 scorers last year for the Cowboys respectively.

While the Cowboys could spend their time worrying about who is gone instead they are excited about who is new to town and how they can impact the team. This is a young team that has only one senior and two juniors returning. Junior Djibril Thiam is only returning upperclassmen who had an impact on the court last season (5.2 points, 5.1 rebounds).

Taking a look at the Sophomore class will tell you nearly everything you need to know about the Cowboys this year:

F Afam Muojeke - The Cowboys returning scorer (13.8) from last year and Mountain West Freshman of the Year. Afam will be counted on to continue where he left off last year. At 6-7 210 he has nice size and will be startin at SF for the Cowboys.

G Jaydee Luster - Luster transferred from New Mexico State and had to sit out last year according to NCAA regulations. Expect him to be the catalyst for the Cowboy offense all season long. He is a pass first point guard that has solid ball control. Was voted team captain by his teammates.

C Boubacar Syalla - Transferred from Auburn last year. Listed at 7-2 235 he is the tallest player to ever play for the Cowboys. Didn't do much in his prep career at StoneRidge Prep (CA). It will be interesting to see if he can actually play or just spend most of his time just taking up space in the lane.

G Thomas Manzano - A 6-4 200lb SG that transferred from a JC (Garden City) last year. Manzano has a nice scoring touch and will help out on the perimeter. Will be counted on to help provide some offensive punch this season.

C Adam Waddell - Would be your starting center this year Waddell injured his knee during the preseason and will be out for two to four weeks. At 6-10 he will spent most of his time at center unless the Cowboys go with a large lineup, which means he could move to the 4 with Syalla playing the 5.

Schedule: The Cowboys have a fairly pedestrian non-conference schedule this year. Some highlights would be:

11/21 - Boise St
11/29 - Pepperdine
12/15 - @ Tennessee
12/23 - @ Northern Iowa

The Cowboys start their Mountain West schedule on January 6th at home against Colorado State.

Outlook: The Cowboys are a young and athletic team will wear out some teams with their ability to run. This energy combined with the soft schedule will help them win a few more games then they probably should. While they probably won't see the post season again this season the Mountain West is wide open and the Cowboys could finish anywhere between 4th and 8th.

5 Star Hoop Prospect looking at Wyoming

Great read from the Laramie Boomerang about San Diego Prep Star Angelo Chol and his recruitment.

Angelo Chol is 6'9 Junior out Hoover High School in San Diego. As a Sophomore he averaged 12.8 points, 13.2 rebounds and 9.6 blocks per game. Chol has narrowed down his list of possible schools down to 11.

Those schools include:

• Alabama
• Arizona State
• UConn
• Florida
• Georgetown
• Kansas
• UNC*
• UCLA
• Virginia
• Washington
• Wyoming

*Every school has offered a scholarship except UNC

Now most folks would say that Wyoming has no chance of nabbing a Top 20 National talent like Chol but there are two factors that weigh heavily in the Cowboys favor.

1. JayDee Luster - the RS Soph Guard for the Cowboys attended the same High School as Chol and the two have a great relationship. This bond is very strong and Chol is expected to come visit Laramie on Nov. 11-13th to watch Luster make his debut with the Cowboys.

2. Diversity - Chol was born in Sudan and moved to San Diego at the age of 7. The Cowboys have a very diverse roster with several players that were born in Senegal, Mali and France. This culture could be very attractive to Chol when he chooses a school.

Though signing day is still a long ways away we will keep you updated on this story and any other developments for the 2011 recruiting class. Landing a player of this caliber could be a huge step for the growth of Wyoming Cowboy basketball.