Box Score
CHICAGO – Junior Carl Montgomery (Chicago, IL/Shepard) (Chicago, Ill.) tallied game highs of 23 points and eight rebounds in leading Chicago State men's basketball to a 78-63 victory over Wagner in its final game of the 2009 HoopTV Las Vegas Classic at Orleans Arena. The Cougars improved to 5-7 on the year with the win, while the Seahawks fell to 2-10.
CSU opened with a 19-4 scoring run in the first 11-plus minutes of the game behind a dominating defensive effort and six points from Montgomery. A three-pointer from junior Jonathan Montgomery (Chicago, Ill.) and a pair of free throws by junior Christian Wall (New Orleans, LA/John Ehret) (New Orleans, La.) later increased the Cougars' leading margin to 31-14 with 4:30 remaining in the stanza, but Wagner managed to post an 8-7 scoring drive down the stretch to slice its deficit to 38-22 heading into the half.
The Seahawks began the second half with a 15-6 scoring run over a 5:37 stretch that closed the gap to 44-37 at the 14:23 mark that concluded with a three-pointer from senior Doug Elwell. That was as close as Wagner could get as CSU concluded the game with a 34-26 scoring drive for the remainder of the game to seal the win.
Wall finished the game with 17 points that included going 11-of-13 from the free throw line and added three assists for CSU. Junior Antonio Lofton (Chicago, IL/Parkland College) (Chicago, Ill.) was another Cougar that scored in double figures as he recorded 12 points and went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Jonathan Montgomery and sophomore Kabangu Tshinga Kasamba (St. Catherine's, ONT/St. Francis) (St. Catherine's, Ont.) each added seven points for the contest.
Senior Michael Orock and sophomore Tyler Murray paced Wagner with 10 points apiece while Murray added six rebounds and a game-high four assists. Elwell and freshman Richard Thompson each contributed nine points for the Seahawks.
The Cougars continue their six-game road swing on Dec. 28 in Birmingham, Ala., with a non-conference contest against Samford at the Pete Hanna Center. Tip-off is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
~ CSU ~
