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OGDEN — After a four-game road trip, the Wildcats found their way home Tuesday night for a rematch with the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. Weber State fell to the Jackrabbits in the previous meeting, but the Wildcats had a different ending in mind for this game, holding on for a 99-95 victory.
South Dakota State jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, shooting 55 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the 3-point line in the early minutes of the game.
Weber made a charge of its own, coming back to take an eight-point lead on South Dakota State late in the first half. After seven lead changes and three ties, Weber took a 44-42 lead into the half.
In the second half, Weber stretched the lead 10-plus points on two different occasions, shooting the ball well from the field, especially from beyond the arc.
However, each time Weber pulled away, the highly potent offense of South Dakota State erased the deficit and tighten up the game. The Jackrabbits cut the Weber lead to two on a tip-in with 28 seconds left in the game.
Weber State clinched the victory with two clutch free throws from Joel Bolomboy at the end of the game to secure its second victory in five days.
Junior forward Kyndahl Hill was extremely effective coming off the bench, scoring a career-high 21 points in the game.
"I felt good," said Hill. "I played the way that I need to play and played to my strengths. I just did what I needed to do to help my team win."
Hill was perfect on the night from the field, going 7-of-7 from the field. His only miss of the night came from the free-throw line, where he went 7 for 8.
"He has been playing terrific all year," head coach Randy Rahe said of Hill. "He is just playing to his strengths and not doing things outside of his comfort zone. That is why he is playing really good basketball."
Jeremy Senglin was lights-out from behind the arc, hitting 7 of 11 treys for 22 points in the game to go along with six assists. Senglin came into the night leading the Big Sky in scoring, averaging 19.2 points per game.
Bolomboy had another dominating performance, scoring 22 points to go with 14 rebounds and two blocks. Bolomboy is tied for first in the nation in double-doubles and ranked fourth in the country in rebounds per game.
The win is easily the highest quality win for the Wildcats on the season. South Dakota State was 10-2 overall coming into the game. Rahe spoke about the differences between this game and the loss to South Dakota State earlier this season.
"I feel like we are in a better rhythm now," said Rahe. "When we went over there, it was the second game of the year and we were still trying to find ourselves. Now we have a better idea of who we are going to play, our rotations, and the guys are understanding our system more."
The 99-point scoring effort was the highest total that Weber has put on a Division I opponent since 2000. Weber moves to 7-5 overall on the season with this victory and 3-1 at home this season.
Tuesday's game was the first of a five-game homestand for the Wildcats. Weber will face Multnomah after the Christmas break on Dec. 28.
Mark Douglas is a graduate of Weber State University and lives in Ogden, Utah. Contact him at markdouglasmail@gmail.com or on Twitter @ThePistolColumn.
