The Cougars hosted the Pittsburg Panthers in the first game of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) presented by Zebra Pen tonight. The game was the first in a best-of-three series for the CBI title. The start of the game was controlled by Pitt as they jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, but WSU fought back to within one with 15:23 left in the half. With 14:46, Abe Lodwick hit a three that spurred a 10-2 run and gave the Cougs a 17-12 lead. However, the Panthers responded with a run of their own, giving themselves a 25-17 lead before coach Bone would call a timeout with 9:30 left in the half. The Cougars shot an impressive .632 (12-for-19) from the field in the first half and were able to keep pace with the Panthers. At the half, the score was 35-38 in favor of the Panthers. The Cougs returned from the locker room on a 10-4 run to give them a 45-42 lead with 16:09 left to play. The run forced a Pitt timeout to prevent a further run from WSU. The teams exchanged baskets for the next seven minutes, but a 3-pointer by Patrick Simon with 9:32 left pushed WSU's lead to eight. The shot spurred a 7-0 Coug run that put them up 60-48 with eight minutes left to play. The Panthers returned the favor with a 12-2 run to close the gap to three. The Cougars maintained their small lead, but were unable to extend it to more than six for the remainder of the game. With 2:08 left to play, Lodwick drained a three, giving them their first field goal in over six minutes. WSU continued to drain the clock, while converting on the offensive end as Reggie Moore knocked down a jumper with 1:09 left to build WSU's lead to five. However, the Panthers wouldn't go quietly, going in for a layup, while being fouled on the shot for a three-point play. With 18.6 seconds left, WSU lead by two, 67-65, and Pitt had the ball at midcourt. The Panthers controlled the ball until they attempted a shot with five seconds left, but the shot wouldn't fall. However, Pittsburg nabbed the offensive board and went back up for the shot, drawing a foul. Pittsburg's Talib Zanna knocked down the first free throw, but the second fell short and Abe Lodwick secured the rebound before being fouled. Lodwick stepped up for one-and-one at WSU's end, but failed to convert the shot allowing Pitt a rebound and a quick timeout with 3.5 to play. The Cougars then called a second-consecutive timeout directly after Pittsburg's. When play resumed, a Pitt player threw a half court lob to Tray Woodall who drove to the paint, hoping for an easy two points and one-point lead to end the game. Sophomore D.J. Shelton wasn't about to let the Cougs' lead slip away and he swatted the attempted layin right back to the floor. Beasley erupted, but Pitt regained possession after the block bounced out of bounds. With 0.8 seconds on the clock and facing a one-point deficit, Pitt made one last attempt for the win, but a deep jumper from the corner fell short and WSU held on to win its final home game of the season at Beasley Coliseum, 67-66.

Player of the Game:
Abe Lodwick. The senior's final home game at Beasley Coliseum ended on a high note. Lodwick went 6-of-12 from the floor including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. He scored a team-high 16 points and added a team-high seven rebounds. The senior only turned the ball over once in his 31 minutes of play. Additionally, Lodwick is averaging 16.3 points per game in WSU's four CBI games. Congratulations to all the seniors in their final home game!

Play of the Game:
Shelton's swat to seal the game. Pittsburg's Tray Woodall drove into the lane with one second left, hoping to give the Panthers a buzzer-beating victory, but the flash of hope died just as quickly as it had come. All six feet 10 inches of D.J. Shelton slid into the lane as Shelton elevated to smack the ball into the stands. The play sent the Beasley crowd into a roar, followed by a boisterous "You got swatted" chant that led into the ensuing timeout.

Turning Point:
The final buzzer. While this game contained a number of runs by both teams, neither team could fully walk away with the game. With only four seconds left the Cougs grasped to a one-point lead. With some exceptional defensive efforts, the Cougs finally obtained a well-deserved victory.

Stat of the Game:
3-point shooting percentage. The Cougars shot a season high .600 (9-of-15) from beyond the arc. Abe Lodwick led the team, going 4-of-5 on the night. Lodwick now holds the record for 3-point percentage in a single season at .495 (47-of-95).

The Cougars are now 19-16 overall and will travel to Pittsburg, Pa. for the second game of the Championship. Should Pittsburg win, it would force a third game in the series. Game Two will take place at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) Wednesday night. The potential third game would be played Friday at 7 p.m. ET. Wednesday night's game can be seen on HDNet.

Waving the flag for Wazzu,

Jim Crawford


Ken Bone Postgame Press Conference



Student-Athletes Postgame Press Conference



Game Highlights