The 2-4 Cougars hosted the undefeated 6-0 Wolves.
The Wolves won the tip-off and started the game with a floater. Cougars Banner Howton got them on the board on their first possession with a baseline 3. After a flurry of passes, the Wolves responded with a 3 of their own. After a Cougar’s turnover, the Wolves had an and one on a fast break opportunity. Howton pump faked the 3 and got a wide-open mid-range 2 for the Cougars. The Wolves turned it over on the next play. Niko Sosa found Nathan Moore wide open in the paint for the Cougars. The Wolves got back-to-back baskets thanks to offensive rebounds. After an offensive rebound for the Cougars, Moore got to the free throw line, where he went 2-2. After a Wolves turnover, Moore got another basket in the paint, followed by a steal; this time, Jamarcus Randall got the basket. The Wolves hit a nice floater to stop the Cougars’ scoring run. Moore got his own rebound and got the putback on the next play. Alijah McFadden then got an offensive rebound for the Cougars and put back. The Wolves called a timeout with 1:18 left in the quarter. After the timeout, the Cougars stole it again and Howton hit a 3-pointer, and the Wolves responded with a 3. On the next play, Randall had the alley oop slam for the Cougars. That ended the first, with the Cougars up 22-19.
The second quarter started with Howton hitting a baseline 3. After the Wolves miss, Alijah McFadden found Moore open in the paint for the basket. The Wolves stopped the momentum as they got to the free-throw line and went 1/2. After a couple of misses from both teams, Howton found Randall for the fast-break layup. After a Wolves turnover, Moore got the offensive rebound and put back. A timeout was called by the Wolves with 3:48 left in the half as they’ve only scored 2 points at that point in the quarter. After the timeout, the Wolves got on the board with a floater. Howton stayed hot from beyond the 3-point line with another make. The Wolves then attacked the paint with a nice basket. Randall got a steal and had a fast break dunk for the Cougars. The Wolves had their own steal and fast break dunk. Both teams went on a scoring drought to end the half, with the Cougars up 38-27.
The Wolves got the ball first to start the second half and turned it over on the first possession. Moore wasted no time as he attacked the paint with a post move for the Cougars’ basket. The Wolves got a baseline 3-pointer for their first basket of the half. The Cougars turned it over, and the Wolves had a fast break layup. The Wolves stole it again and got another layup. A timeout was called by the Cougars with 5:37 left in the quarter. The Wolves got to the free-throw line and went 1-2. After the Cougars miss, the Wolves hit a 3, and that 11-point lead quickly fell apart as it was a tie game with three minutes left in the third. Moore then got an and one for the Cougars, and he made the free throw. The Wolves hit another 3 as the hot third quarter continued for them. Moore attacked the paint with a nice basket for the Cougars. The Wolves hit another 3, and the Cougars called a timeout with 1:25 left in the third. After the timeout, the Wolves hit another 3, giving them the lead for the first time since the first quarter. The third quarter ended with the Wolves leading 47-45 after outscoring the Cougars 20-7 in those eight minutes.
The Cougars were down two and got the ball first. Moore tied the game up on the offensive rebound and put back. Howton then hit a 3 for the Cougars to give them the lead back. The Wolves answered with a nice floater. Niko Sosa got to the free throw line for the Cougars and went 2-2. Randall got the steal and dunk for the Cougars, followed by a Wolves turnover due to a charge. On the next possession, the Wolves had a nice transition layup. The Wolves scored again with the layup. Moore got to the free throw line for the Cougars and went 2-2 from the line. The Wolves tied it up with a 3-pointer on the next play. After a Cougar’s miss, the Wolves regained the lead with a 3-pointer with right at three minutes left in the game. A timeout was called with 2:28 left in the game. Niko Sosa went to the free-throw line and went 0-2. The Wolves got to the free-throw line and went 1-2. Niko Sosa hit a baseline 3 for the Cougars on the next play. The Wolves turned it over with a travel call with 1:17 left in the game. A timeout was then called by the Cougars. Niko Sosa got an and one for the Cougars and made the free throw with under a minute left, and they were up 2. The Wolves tied it up after the offensive rebound. The Cougars then stole it, and the Wolves got to the free throw line and went 2-2 with 21.3 left. A timeout was called by the Cougars with 16.5 left, down two. The Cougars missed the game-tying shot, and the game ended 64-62, and the Wolves stayed undefeated.
