CHICAGO (Jan. 29, 2009) – Junior forward Carl Montgomery (Chicago, Ill.) came through in the clutch by draining a pair of free throws with eight second left to give host Chicago State a 43-41 victory over Utah Valley in a thrilling Great West Conference men’s basketball battle Thursday night at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center. The Cougars, who broke a nine-game losing streak with the win, improved to 6-16 (1-4) on the year, while the Wolverines saw their season record fall to 9-11 (2-2).
UVU opened the contest with a 9-1 lead in the opening 6:03 thanks to six points from senior Jourdain Scoubes, but the home team bounced back in a big way with a 20-8 run in the final 13:57 of the first half to enter intermission with junior Christian Wall (New Orleans, La.) scoring nine points during that stretch.
After Montgomery split a pair of free throws at the 19:15 mark of the second half to give CSU its biggest lead of the game at 22-17, the Wolverines then posted a 17-4 run over a 6:49 stretch to post their biggest advantage of the contest at 34-26 with 12:26 remaining following a layup from senior Jordan Swarbrick. Junior Shawn Deadwiler (seven points) and Swarbrick (six points) combined to score 13 points during the run.
Montgomery recorded dunk at the 11:29 mark to spark a quick 6-0 CSU run over four-plus minutes that helped it even the score at 34-34 with 7:25 left in the game. Wall hit a pair of free throws at 5:43 to give the home team a 36-34 lead, but Swarbrick scored seven straight points in just three minutes as UVU recaptured the lead at 41-34 with 2:46 left in regulation. The Cougars made their comeback as they scored seven consecutive points in two minutes to even the score at 41-all after junior Jonathan Montgomery (Chicago, Ill.) connected on a free throw with 23 seconds remaining to set up Carl Montgomery’s heroics.
Wall led Chicago State with 14 points and three assists, while Carl Montgomery recorded his sixth double-double of the season with a game-high 12 rebounds and 11 points. Sophomore rounded out the quartet with a season-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field.
Swarbrick scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting off the bench to lead Utah Valley. Scoubes added eight points and six boards, while Deadwiler added seven points and three assists.
The Cougars are back in action on Thursday, Feb. 4 with a Great West Conference battle versus Houston Baptist starting at 7:30 p.m.
~CSU~