Sellers Leads Cowboys To Taming Of Rattlers, 66-45

Behind career-highs of 16 points and 8 rebounds for Matt Sellers, the Wyoming Cowboys stayed undefeated with a 66-45 victory over Florida A&M Monday night.

Wyoming (4-0) used an 18-3 run over a five minute stretch of the first half to break the game wide open. The Pokes hit five of their first seven 3-pointers. Larry Nance, Jr., Riley Grabau and Jason McManamen all hit from deep in the run. Sellers scored six points at the tail end of the spurt.

Sellers said, "The starters they played really well and gave us a shot to get in. It was just do what we do in practice; just an extension of practice; it was nice to see 'em going in tonight."

The Cowboys led 34-15 at half and played their bench most of the second half.

Head coach Larry Shyatt gave credit to his team for not letting the win over Colorado Saturday not affect their play.

"Our starters got off to about a 20-7 or 20-8 lead, which allowed our other guys to show what they can do."

The big highlight was Jason McManamen's posterizing dunk of a Rattler at the 8:46 mark of the second half. It drew reaction from fans and players for a good five minutes.

McManamen said, "I didn't really expect it. I didn't see it coming; just Larry (Nance, Jr.) threw it to me and it just happened. I haven't done anything like that in a while."

However, he missed the free throw for a three-point play.

UW shot 53 percent (25-47) on field goals. They were 7-21 (33%) beyond the arc and 9-14 (64%) at the foul line. The Pokes had a 36-22 edge on the glass and finished with 21 assists.

Besides Sellers big game, McManamen and freshman Jeremy Lieberman scored 9 points apiece. None of the Cowboys starters scored more than six points and none played more than 24 minutes.

Wyoming's bench ended up out-scoring Florida A&M's 41-to-4, which was a season-high for UW. The Pokes also put up 28 points in the paint compared to ten for the Rattlers.

Florida A&M (0-5) was led by Jermaine Ruttley with 16 points. They shot only 37 percent from the field.

Shyatt also liked the defense his team displayed early on.

"We're going to have to rely on defense; on defensive rebounding, edge, tenacity; those kinds of things."

The Wyoming Cowboys face another quick turnaround. They will take on the Stetson Hatters (2-3) Wednesday night at the Arena-Auditorium. Tip time is at 7 p.m.