LARAMIE, WY -- On a journey to conquer their first win of the season, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff men's basketball team took a tough loss to the Wyoming Cowboys with a final score of 85 – 45 at the Arena-Auditorium on Sunday evening.
Guard Kylen Milton lead the Golden Lions with 17 points, shooting 62-percent from the perimeter, sinking five three-pointers.
Forward Trey Sampson followed behind Milton, finishing with nine points and six rebounds, shooting perfect from the free-throw line.
Getting things started for the Golden Lions would be Dequan Morris, who would come down and knock down a corner three to get UAPB on the board first. Morris then grabbed a rebound off a missed Wyoming layup and pushed the ball down the court to draw a foul on a layup, to make a trip to the free-throw line, sinking one-of-two free throws to get a quick 4-0 lead over the Cowboys.
Needing his vital energy, Morris would go down with an apparent knee injury early in the game, changing the game's atmosphere.
However, Brandon Brown would keep the team in motion, hustling after loose balls and drawing fouls for the Golden Lions.
Wyoming would then go on a 17-0 scoring run against Arkansas-Pine Bluff before Sampson could stop the momentum and take a trip to the free-throw line, knocking down both free throws.
Contesting a Cowboy three-pointer forcing a miss, Shawn Williams gave an outlet pass to Milton for a stop-and-pop three-point bucket. The next possession, a pass from Sampson to Milton, would duplicate the play before allowing Milton to knock down a second consecutive three-point shot before the half but would trail Wyoming 42 – 22 going into halftime.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff wouldn't shoot the ball so well in the first half, only knocking down seven out of 25 shots to shoot 28-percent from the field.
UAPB also needed to do a better job of taking care of the basketball in the first half, turning the ball over ten times to allow Wyoming to convert 12 points from Golden Lion turnovers.
The first-half defense in the paint wasn't too solid for the Golden Lions, giving up 22 points in the paint.
"We have to do better defensively; we're giving up too many points," said first-year UAPB head coach Solomon Bozeman about the opposing teams' points in the paint.
The Cowboys began to open the point spread over the Golden Lions in the second half, going on a 9-0 scoring run before K'Shun Stokes hit a tough teardrop to end the run.
Milton's motor kept running in the second half, knocking two highly contested three-point shots from the wing and the top of the key.
By then, it was too late in the game to make a comeback as the Golden Lions would fall to the Cowboys will a final score of 85 – 45.
"I feel like this team is built on putting the ball in the hoop, and if we're not scoring, we don't defend, and that needs to change," said Bozeman about the team's momentum.
The Golden Lions will get back in the lab on their homecourt before traveling to Portland, Oregon, to take on Portland on Thursday at 9 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on KRCW-TV and will be broadcasted over the airwaves on 910 ESPN-PORTLAND radio.
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