Weber State basketball: Tomley’s game-winner caps string of plays to edge Utah Tech
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- Weber State guard Miguel Tomley (3) drives past Utah Tech’s Justin Bieker on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in St. George.
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- Weber State forward Nigel Burris (5) surveys the floor as Utah Tech’s Tennessee Rainwater (10) defends on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in St. George.
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- Weber State guard Miguel Tomley, left, drives against Utah Tech’s Hunter Schenck on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in St. George.
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- Weber State guard Blaise Threatt (0) drives toward Utah Tech’s Noa Gonsalves on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in St. George.
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- Weber State center Vasilije Vucinic, center right, prepares to pass to teammate Blaise Threatt in a game against Utah Tech on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in St. George.
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- Weber State forward Nigel Burris, left, shoots a 3-pointer against Utah Tech on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in St. George.
Weber State men’s basketball hadn’t put together a particularly compelling game Friday, trailing by a small margin for most of the night at Utah Tech.
But in the final moments, the Wildcats scratched together the plays needed to make the final tally in a game with 11 ties and 11 lead changes, capped when senior guard Miguel Tomley drove across the lane and banked in a high, one-handed floater with 0.2 seconds left to give Weber State a 73-71 victory at Burns Arena in St. George.
WSU head coach Eric Duft said his team overcame a struggle to find good energy with consistent effort in a week his players had to finish finals early to make the bus trip.
“People forget, these guys have to go to school, too,” Duft said. “It’s a busy week. Mentally, they’re probably a little fried. But we found enough. It wasn’t our best performance … but it was a great effort. We just kind of dug down and found it.”
Tomley finished with a game-high 21 points and team-highs with four assists and two steals, notching his second go-ahead bucket in the final 30 seconds this season.
Senior guard Noa Gonsalves drove for the final of his team-high 19 points to put Utah Tech (2-10) ahead 67-65 with 1:59 left. That’s when the string of must-have plays began for Weber State (5-6).
First, Vasilije Vucinic capped his big night with a putback of a Blaise Threatt around-and-out drive, giving him 14 points and 13 rebounds to tie the game 67-67 with 1:32 remaining.
Vucinic, who got his first start of the season for WSU, has scored 14 points in each of his last two games on a combined 13-of-14 shooting.
Then Nigel Burris was first to an errant pass from a falling Dyson Koehler and drew a loose-ball foul. He knocked down his free throws to put WSU ahead 69-68.
Moments later, Koehler jabbed the ball from a driving Justin Bieker and secured a steal, leading to a foul and two Threatt free throws. Threatt made both, the second rattling around and in for a 71-68 score with 20 seconds left.
WSU was almost undone on the other end. Having kept Utah Tech off the boards the entire second half, Samuel Ariyibi (18 points) made one free throw but missed his second. Tennessee Rainwater beat everyone to the rebound and banked in a putback to tie the score 71-71 with 14 seconds on the clock.
“Dyson was great in the huddle there. Blaise and Nigel were not happy, and you want that. You want some competitiveness, you want some of that emotion. You’ve got to channel it the right way, but we’ve gotta have some of that fire,” Duft said. “But Dyson calmed them down, he’s like, ‘hey guys, we’re tied. We’re going to go make a play here.'”
So Tomley gave Utah Tech a third bitter defeat to a Big Sky foe, with the Trailblazers having already suffered one-possession losses to Montana and Portland State. After Threatt drove right, he dished to Tomley on the extended left elbow. Tomley muscled through contact from Gonsalves to push his banker over help in the paint and give WSU the victory.
Duft said his team put that end-of-game action together in shootaround today.
Threatt finished with 14 points and five rebounds — a less-even performance than usual made choppy by foul trouble, but one that saw the guard go 6 of 7 at the foul line. Burris added nine points and eight rebounds. Koehler scored nine points on 2 of 2 from distance, returning to the starting lineup after missing the previous game.
Despite missing leading scorer Beon Riley, Utah Tech opened the game with the lead and kept Weber State at arm’s length for most of the night — largely on uncharacteristically good 3-point shooting. Gonsalves hit three 3s and the Trailblazers started the game 7 of 13 from deep, going up seven points with 11 minutes left on a Bieker triple.
But Weber State finally slowed the flow, holding the home team to 1 of its final 6 from behind the arc. Burris and Koehler hit consecutive 3s and a quick 8-1 run had the game tied with 7:26 left, and the margin tilted back and forth to the buzzer.
“We’re like the Chiefs,” Duft said, referring to his favorite NFL team. “It’s every close game you could possibly be in. But … it’s going to help us. If you’re not in close games and you get into conference, it’s going to be hard. Every game in conference is a grind.”
With the nod going to Vucinic, senior center Alex Tew, nearly a three-year starter at center, came off the bench and totaled one rebound, one assist and one steal in 11 minutes.
“We asked Alex to perform a different role for us with this team and I thought down the stretch defensively, he was terrific,” Duft said. “He was so good out there and I’m really proud of him.”
Weber High School alum Hunter Schenck tallied two points and one rebound in 11 minutes for Utah Tech.
Weber State returns home for two games ahead of a short holiday break. The Wildcats host Lincoln University-California on Wednesday before facing Utah Valley on Saturday, Dec. 21.
