CHICAGO – Homecoming became special for the Chicago State men's basketball team on Saturday evening as four players scored in double figures to guide the host Cougars (18-13) to a 92-75 win over visiting Texas-Pan American (9-17) in front of 2,348 alumni and fans at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center.
CSU broke an early 7-7 first half tie with a 24-9 scoring drive over six-plus minutes behind 10 points from senior guard John Cantrell (Pontiac, MI/Northern HS) (Pontiac, Mich.) to claim a 31-16 lead with 10:44 left in the stanza that was capped by a fast break dunk by sophomore Carl Montgomery (Chicago, IL/Shepard) (Palos Heights, Ill.).
The Cougars later increased their advantage to 39-21 on three free throws from senior guard David Holston (Pontiac, MI/Avondale HS) (Pontiac, Mich.) at the 7:51 mark before the visitors used a 14-4 run in nearly five minutes to slice its deficit to 43-35 following a layup from sophomore Nick Weiermiller, who scored 10 points during the run, at 3:03. The home team closed the half by scoring seven of the final 12 points to enter the half ahead by a 50-40 margin.
A 10-0 run in the opening three minutes of the second half that included six points from Holston gave the Cougars a 60-40 lead with 17:09 remaining in the game following a Cantrell layup. CSU extended its advantage to 79-54 at the 9:31 mark after a jumper from sophomore Hajji Martin (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) (Chicago, Ill.) that closed a 19-4 run which lasted nearly eight minutes. The Broncs could get no closer than 17 points the rest of the way.
“It was a great team win for us tonight as we played unselfish and with a lot of enthusiasm,” second-year head coach Benjy Taylor stated after the game. “To get win number 18 is a big accomplishment for us because we beat a well-coached team tonight.”
Holston tallied 24 points, eight assists and six rebounds for CSU, while Cantrell scored 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Senior Mike Wilson (New York, NY/Mt. San Jacinto CC) (New York, N.Y.) added 16 points, eight caroms and six assists. Montgomery posted a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 11 board to go along with four blocked shots for the Cougars.
Weiermiller led three UTPA players in double digit scoring with a game-high 25 points. Junior Nathan Hawkins recorded 14 points and freshman Andrew Smith added 10 for the Broncs.
The Cougars conclude the regular season Monday night against Houston Baptist at the Jones Convocation Center with a start time of 7 p.m.
~ CSU ~
