Rahe wins 300, Weber State starts with 68:58 victory over Green Bay for the best start in 36 years | News, sports, jobs

Kyzer Armendariz, for Weber State Athletics

Weber State Guard Seikou Sisoho Jawara (5) guards a State Dribbler ball at Jersey Mike’s Classic in St. Petersburg, Florida on Friday, November 19, 2021.

The story converged in Weber State men’s basketball Sunday morning when the Wildcats finished three games at the Jersey Mike’s Classic in St. Petersburg, Florida.

In his 16th season at the helm, with long-forgotten school and conference records for head coach wins, Randy Rahe took career victory # 300 when Weber beat State Green Bay 68:58, behind Seikou Sisoho Jawara’s early, hot shooting.

And with a 5-0 record, it’s the best start to the season at Weber State since the 1985-86 team started 10-0.

The WSU went 3-0 through at the event at Eckard College. While it wasn’t a tournament with a bracket, it is the first time the Wildcats have won three games in a multi-team event during the season since winning the Gulf Coast Showcase in 2015.

“Somebody said last night one of our boys said a little over 300 and I said, ‘No, we’re only at game 4, what the hell are you talking about?’ I didn’t really add it up, ”said Rahe after the game on Sunday. “But I appreciate it. It just means that I’ve had great players, a great team, great administration that made it possible for me to do our thing, and a great community of Ogden that really supports us. It takes a village to be successful, and we definitely have a village in Weber State. “

Emmanuel Ansong, the Green Bay hopper, gave Weber State problems in the offensive glass early on and the Wildcats flipped the ball five times in the first seven minutes. Ansong led the Phoenix with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Sisoho Jawara was the lift the Wildcats needed. He entered the night 5 of 17 of 3, but his first five 3-point attempts on Sunday were all in the first half.

He hit consecutive 3s to make his fifth make of half and was fouled on the final take. He took his free throw and JJ Overton scored to top off an 11-0 run and put Weber State 33-23 ahead at 5:06 in the first half.

Sisoho Jawara led Weber State with 20 points in 7-of-9 shooting, adding three rebounds, three assists and two steals and marking the third-best WSU in the three games in St. Petersburg.

Rahe also credited Sisoho Jawara for keeping the Phoenix’s top scorer Donovan Ivory on the defensive. Ivory scored seven points when he shot 2 out of 9 after scoring 27 and 19 in his team’s previous games in St. Petersburg.

Overton added 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, giving him an average of 15.6 points per game on a 69.4% shooting clip over five games.

Green Bay used a 7-0 run early in the second half to reduce the gap to six, but the WSU responded immediately. Dillon Jones scored a pair of buckets during a 12-3 run that pushed the lead back to 55:40 with 10:47 minutes. It never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Jones finished his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds, averaging 13.8 points and 11 rebounds in five games. He’s also chipped three steals.

Koby McEwen fought his way off the floor to six points but hit in six rebounds. Zahir Porter added five points and three steals.

Weber State won four away games in the last week, starting with an away win in Duquesne on Monday.

“I was really proud of our guys because they focused, focused and didn’t take anything for granted. They came every day to turn around and film and wanted to know exactly what they had to do to have a chance of victory, ”said Rahe. “They really took on the whole tournament thing and they really enjoyed doing that and then succeeding. So it was a good week. “

Weber State is now heading to Utah but will play another street game at Dixie State on Saturday. The Wildcats are returning to the Dee Events Center for two conference games on December 2nd and 4th to begin a series in which they will play six home competitions in seven games.

WSU 59, OMAHA 45

The Weber State women’s team took advantage of a 21-5 in the third quarter to flash Omaha and win at home on Sunday afternoon.

The WSU held Omaha to 18 points in the second half, and five of those came in the last two minutes, which lives up to the win-by-defense approach coach Velaida Harris preaches. Omaha shot 30% and helped Weber overcome 24 turnovers.

Emma Torbert led the Wildcats (2-2) with 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks, including the WSU’s first eight points in the game. Daryn Hickok scored 11 points, Laura Taylor and Kori Pentzer nine points each. Jadyn Matthews led all rebounders at 13.

Weber State is playing at UC Davis next Friday.

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