California Golden Bears shake off a poor start to beat McNeese State Cowboys 73-57: NCAA Basketball
Jorge Gutierrez pounded a season high 26 points along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists to lead California Golden Bears in a come from behind 73-57 win over McNeese State Cowboys.
This was Bear’s 5th consecutive win at home and has improved their record to 6-1. On the other hand, McNeese have dropped to 3-3 after this loss.
Bear’s Coach, Mike Montgomery was animated throughout the game, cheering his players and bucking them up to lift up their tempo, when things were not going well for the team in the first half. Although Cowboys are not considered as the toughest team in the NCAA, Mike said after the game that no team in the tournament is weak and can be taken lightly;
"We can't fall into that trap that says, 'We're supposed to beat them, there are a lot of teams around the country that can play basketball. You make the assumption that because it's McNeese State they can't play. And it's not true."
Allen Crabbe drilled 20 points and pulled down 6 rebounds too but after the game, admitted that Bear’s took the opponents lightly. He added
"We were coming out kind of sluggish and taking our opponent lightly. Coach just told us to pick it up, and we came out more aggressive."
From Cowboys, only two players managed to end with scores in double digits. Patrick Richard scored 18 on 7 for 16 from the arc while Dontae Cannon accumulated 15.
Cowboys started in style with an 8-2 spurt capped by Dontae Cannon and managed to stay ahead of the opponents for the first 7 minutes, after which Bears reeled off an 8-0 run.
The next few minutes of the half were intense as both teams tried to dominate the proceedings and with just few seconds remaining Cowboys were barely ahead by 26-25. However, a timely three by Crabbe ensured Bears entered the second half with a two point advantage.
From that point onwards, the Bears never looked back and courtesy of a 10-2 burst early in the second half, they managed to elevate their lead to double figures 55-37. Cowboys needed to put up a good offensive show to give them any chance of winning but they succumbed to the pressure of the situation.
Tags: