Wichita, KS—November 17—Howard placed four players in double figures, but it was not enough as Wichita State defeated the Bison, 69-50 in the second round of the Triple Crown Cancun Challenge at the Charles Koch Arena.
Howard (0-3) fell behind 34-17 at halftime to the Shockers, mostly due to a 52 percent shooting effort. The Bison, who have been racked by injuries, played its second straight game without the services of senior guard and team leader
Calvin Thompson and reserve center
Oliver Ellison and reserve guard/forward
Tre Lee. That left Howard with
Simuel Frazier as the only point guard healthy on the roster. Wichita State (4-0) used that to its advantage by forcing 15 first half turnovers.
"They did a good job of taking advantage of us having only one point guard who dressed (Frazier) when their pressure defense caused us to turn the ball over too much."
But the undermanned Bison refused to lay down and they managed to outscore the Shockers, 36-32 in the second stanza.
"I was proud of how this short-handed group battled, especially in the second half when we outscored them," said Howard head Coach Kevin Nickelberry. "Wichita State is a talented and athletic team, but I am proud of our guys and how they battled in the second half despite the odds."
Howard got balanced scoring from senior forward Mike Phillips (12 points), junior center Alphonso Leary (11 points) and sophomore guards Prince Okoroh (10 points, 7 rebounds) and Frazier (10 points, 4 assists).
NEXT UP: The Bison will be looking for their first win of the season when they take on Gardner Webb on Tuesday at 3 pm in the next round of the challenge in Cancun, Mexico.
