Comeback falls short in Utah Valley's loss in CBI quarterfinal


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SAN FRANCISCO — Just over a week ago, Utah Valley men's basketball team fell behind early in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals against Grand Canyon.

And it happened again to the Wolverines on Monday night in the College Basketball Invitational quarterfinals at West Coach Conference foe San Francisco.

Despite a furious second-half run propelled by senior guards Kenneth Ogbe and Brandon Randolph, the UVU comeback fell just short and the Dons ended the Wolverines' season with a 78-73 win in the Sobrato Center.

Ogbe and Randolph didn't want their final collegiate seasons to end as the duo scored 19 straight points during a 23-4 run that brought UVU within three points with 1:40 to play.

But that was as close as UVU would get. San Francisco went 4-4 from the free throw line down the stretch and the Wolverines (23-11) couldn't get a good shot on two of its last three possessions.

Junior guard Ben Nakwaasah got the big run started with a 3-pointer that made it 64-47 with 8:33 to play. Ogbe and 7-footer Akolda Manyang each hit jump shots to make it 64-51 with 6:57 to play.

Then it was all Ogbe and Randolph. Ogbe scored eight-straight points to cut the deficit to six with 5:01 left, and Randolph added six-straight that made it 68-65 with 3:11 to play.

Frankie Ferrari stopped the bleeding for the Dons by hitting a corner 3-pointer. Ogbe responded with another 3-pointer of his own. But USF answered right back as Jordan Ratinho hit a 3-pointer to push the lead back to six with 1:55 to play.

Ogbe was not going to let his season end just yet. Ogbe hit another 3-pointer with 1:40 to play to make it a 3-point game.

It just wasn't enough. Ogbe missed a contested 3-point attempt and Jake Toolson had his floater blocked and the Dons hit free throws down the stretch to end one of the winningest season in UVU's NCAA basketball history.

Ogbe finished with a game-high 26 points while Randolph finished with 22 points seven rebounds and four assists. Akolda Manyang had another double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Ratinho and Chase Foster had a team-high 20 points for the Dons (20-15), who host Campbell in a CBI semifinal Thursday night.

What's next?

It was the final collegiate game for six UVU seniors. Ogbe, Randolph, Manyang, Zach Nelson, Isaac Neilson and Jerrelle DeBerry played their final college games on Monday night.

These six have helped UVU beat BYU for the first time in school history. They were part of the largest comeback in NCAA basketball history, coming back from 27-down in knocking off Denver. UVU picked up its first win ever at New Mexico State with Randolph and Ogbe scoring the final 15 points for the Wolverines. This group helped UVU pick up first wins against GCU and at CSU Bakersfield under head coach Mark Pope.

Two of the players, Ogbe and Nelson, already have MBAs in hand. Three players — Ogbe, Randolph and Manyang — averaged in double figures in 2017-18 with Ogbe leading the way 13.7 points coming into Monday night.

Five of the six players were transfers from other NCAA Division I programs. Ogbe transferred from the University of Utah, Randolph from Xavier, Manyang from Oklahoma, DeBerry from Kent State, Neilson from BYU. Zach Nelson was the lone true freshman to play at UVU in this group.


Kyle McDonald is sports fan who loves the Chicago Cubs. Follow him on Twitter at @kylesportsbias

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