Weber State basketball: Bench play helps Wildcats stay unbeaten in Big Sky

OGDEN — Damian Lillard was the same reliable super star and Scott Bamforth hit some huge shots at just the right time.

But it was the contributions of the Weber State bench that helped the Wildcats win the battle of undefeated Big Sky teams Saturday night at the Dee Events Center by a score of 80-64.

"I thought the key to the game potentially was our bench play in the first half, when we got Byron (Fulton), (Gelaun) Wheelright and Bull (Kyle Bullinger) and Mook (Frank Otis) all stepped in and really contributed," said head coach Randy Rahe. "That was big to our team to get that kind of production off of the bench. Very proud of our bench and the way they responded."

The game was a battle until about seven minutes left in the first half when Byron Fulton hit a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 27-21 lead. Then freshman Gelaun Wheelwright hit a 3-pointer and tipped in a miss to give Weber it's first double-digit lead, 35-25.

Meanwhile the Wildcat defense played a little tougher on the other end. Otis hit a jump shot to extend the lead to 39-27 at 4:41 in the first half.

Both players and coaches said they discussed that the only way to put space between the Grizzlies and themselves was to play harder on defense and in the paint.

"We were executing really well," said Lillard, who remains the nation's leading scorer, averaging 25.5 points per game. "They were executing really well, and we came into the media time out and (coaches) said, 'We have to get stops.' And that was the bottom line; we had to get stops. We started to play a little bit harder, communicate a little bit more and we were able to come up with some stops and come up with some rebounds."

The effort resulted in a 49-36 halftime lead.

Rahe praised all of his players for their effort, focus and poise, but singled out Otis, as it was his first game back after missing nine games due to a knee injury.

"Mook was terrific," he said, referring to Otis by his nickname. "He had a great calmness about him, which was surprising for not playing for five weeks, six weeks. He looked confident; he played in rhythm, which was really good. … But for the first game back, to come back and play with that kind of confidence, I thought it spoke volumes for him."

Lillard moved up the all-time scorers list to fourth-place after leading all players with 21 points. He also had four assists and five rebounds. Bamforth finished with 15 points and three assists, and he hit three 3-pointers, including one in the second half that stole the momentum of Montana's comeback effort.