The Wyoming Cowboys held off a pesky Jackson State Tigers squad 73-65 Monday night at the Arena-Auditorium. Four Cowboys scored in double figures, but the Pokes struggled at times despite the win.

Cowboys head coach Larry Shyatt said, "With a comfortable lead, we missed some free throws in the heart of the game, and we got back on our heels for about two or three minutes. The best news was we knocked in 10 straight free throws to end the game. That's how you win games."

Wyoming (3-1) enjoyed a 16-point lead, at 52-36, with 12:14 left, but had a second big scoring drought of 5 minutes without a field goal and only 4 free throws. During a 6 minute stretch, the Tigers trimmed the Cowboys lead to 61-56 with 6:18 left.

UW held off Jackson State, as they knocked down their last 10 free throws. A small 6-0 spurt over a 1:45 span helped Wyoming regain a double figure advantage at 67-56, and they ended up with an 8-point win.

Riley Grabau led UW with 16 points. Larry Nance, Jr. had 15 points and 7 rebounds, while Josh Adams and Nathan Sobey added 11 points apiece. The Cowboys shot 52.8 percent (19-36) on field goals, were 4-12 (33.3%) from deep and 31-44 (70.5%) at the foul line. UW out-rebounded the Tigers by a 34-26 margin, with 30 of those defensive rebounds. Derek Cooke, Jr. led the Pokes on the glass with 10. They did commit 16 turnovers, 10 of which came from Adams and Grabau.

Shyatt added, "We defensively rebounded the ball as well as you can on the defensive board. For us to become a better team, we're going to have to get rebounding like we did defensively from Cooke and Nance. We have to get that."

Jackson State (1-4) was led by Julysses Nobles, who scored a game high 23 points. Treshawn Bolden ended with 14 points. The Tigers shot 41.7 percent (25-60) from the field, which included 4-14 (28.6%) from 3-point range and 11-15 (73.3%) at the stripe. Jackson State scored 19 points off turnovers and also had 16 second chance points.

It was a 1-point game, at 14-13, with 13:13 left in the first half when UW rattled off 14 straight points for a 28-13 lead, but the Cowboys went cold. They failed to score on 7 straight possessions, which gave Jackson State a chance to climb back in it. They trimmed the lead to 29-23, as Wyoming went nearly 8 minutes without a field goal. Jerron Granberry scored five points for the Pokes in the last 96 seconds still, as they held a 35-24 edge at halftime.

The Cowboy return to action Friday night at home against the South Dakota Coyotes. Game time is set for 8 p.m.

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