Cowboys Not Dead Yet; Pokes Stifle Chanticleers To Force Deciding Game 3

WYOMING – A little home cooking is just what the Wyoming Cowboys needed as the Brown-and-Gold smothered Coastal Carolina with a defense that was absent in Game 1.

After surrendering a season-high 91 points in the CBI championship opener enroute to a 10-point loss to the Chanticleers on Monday, the Cowboys blew out Coastal Carolina with a convincing 81-57 victory Wednesday night. Both games the Pokes scored 81, but it was defense that won it for the hometown team in Game 2.

Wyoming took a 6-point lead into the locker room at the half and then separated themselves from the Chanticleers, outscoring them by 18 in the second half. The Pokes never trailed in the game save for a brief 26-second span in the first half, and they led by as many as 27 at one point in the second stanza. Justin James paced the Cowboys with 21 points, Aka Gorski poured in another 17, and a stingy defense did the rest.

The win forces a winner-take-all game Friday night in the best of three championship round. It will be played at the Double A in Laramie, tap time 5pm MT. It will be televised on ESPNU.