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OGDEN — Weber State opened play in the collegeinsider.com Tournament with a dominating 85-43 win over Cal Poly Wednesday night at the Dee Events Center. With the win the ‘Cats improve to 27-6 on the season, and match the school and Big Sky record for most wins in a season.
CIT second round matchups, dates and locations will be announced Thursday morning following the completion of the first round.
The Wildcats never trailed and jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead in the first ever meeting with the Mustangs. WSU led 18-10 with 11:00 to play and responded with a 17-4 run over the next 6:30 to take a 36-14 lead with 4:30 to play. The ‘Cats led by as many as 27 in the first half. WSU shot 67 percent from the field in the half and outrebounded the Mustangs 21-6. Kyle Tresnak had 16 points and Scott Bamforth had 14 and knocked down four three-pointers, including a long three at the buzzer to end the half.
Weber State continued its strong play in the second half with a couple early buckets, including another three-pointer from Bamforth. Cal Poly was never closer than 23 points the entire second half.
"I was really proud of how our kids responded tonight," said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. "We got stung pretty hard and were pretty down after losing the Big Sky Tournament but I thought tonight's game really show what our team and program is all about. We got off to a great start and that was important for us and we really executed well."
The Wildcats ended the game shooting 60 percent from the field, compared to 30 percent for Cal Poly. WSU also knocked down 10 three-pointers and shot 9-11 from the free throw line. The ‘Cats outrebounded the Mustangs 38-23. WSU also had 18 assists and five blocked shots.
Bamforth finished with 23 points and tied his career-high with seven three-pointers. He passed John Hamilton and moved into second in WSU history in career three-pointers, now with 242. He needs just five three-pointers to pass Damian Lillard and become the school's all-time leader in three-pointers.
Junior Kyle Tresnak had 20 points won 10-11 shooting and pulled down five rebounds and had two blocked shots. Davion Berry added 12 points and freshman Joel Bolomboy had 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
The win marks just the second time in Weber State history and the fourth time in Big Sky history a team has reached 27 wins in a season.
