Nathan Sobey buried a 3-pointer from the deep left corner off a pass from Josh Adams at the buzzer, and the Wyoming Cowboys topped the Lehigh Mountain Hawks 67-66 in the first round of the CBI Tuesday night at the Arena-Auditorium. The Pokes rallied from a 7-point deficit with five minutes left and closed the game on a 10-2 run for the stunning victory.

Cowboy head coach Larry Shyatt said, “I told the guys at the last timeout that if [Lehigh] scored, we had to get the ball inbounds as quickly as possible, and then whichever point guard got the ball, they had to push the ball up as fast as they could. We wanted the other guards to spot up in the corners and Nate (Sobey) was able to knock it down. It’s nice to have a shot fall like that for us at the end.”

Wyoming (20-13) was able to tie the game after an unforced turnover by Lehigh's Mackey McKnight led to a Derrious Gilmore lay-up that tied the game at 64 with 21 seconds left. Out of a time-out, the Mountain Hawks worked for one shot, and McKnight found Gabe Knutson for the go-ahead lay-up with 5.4 seconds left. UW got the ball in quickly to Adams, and he drove to the free throw line before he found Sobey for the game-winner.

Sobey said, "Credit to our guards for getting the ball out so quick. I was just open, and Josh drove to the lane, and I was lucky it went in. I didn't even see it go in. As soon as it went up, I was on the ground, and then people just jumped on me, so I didn't even see it. So, I just guessed that it went in."

Lehigh (21-10) utilized a 9-2 run midway through the second half for a 56-51 edge. The lead eventually reached seven before the Cowboy rally. The win was the 23rd-straight non-conference victory for UW at the AA.

Gilmore and Larry Nance, Jr. led the Pokes, as both finished 1-point off their career-highs. Gilmore had 25 points, which included six 3-pointers. Nance added 20 points and 7 rebounds, while Sobey finished with 12 points. Wyoming was 25-46 (54.3%) from the field, 11-19 (57.9%) from deep and 6-11 (54.5%) at the foul line.

Lehigh had two players in double figures. Gabe Knutson ended up with 23 points, and Anthony D'Orazio added 14. The Mountain Hawks were 25-52 (48.1%) on field goals, 4-13 (30.8%) from beyond the arc and 12-15 (80%) at the charity stripe. They out-rebounded the Cowboys 29-24.

UW got off to a hot start shooting the basketball. They hit on 80 percent from deep, as Gilmore knocked down five 3-pointers. They held leads of 17-7 and 30-21, but Lehigh closed the first half on a 15-5 run. The Mountain Hawks took their first lead with 5 seconds left in the period on a lay-in by Knutson for a 36-35 edge at the break. The Pokes shot 61.9 percent from the field and still trailed at half.

Wyoming will host the quarterfinal game in the CBI next Monday, March 25 against the winner of Wednesday's first round game between North Dakota State and Western Michigan. You can listen to Cowboy basketball on Y95 Country next Monday evening.

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