Comets split at Baymont Inn Classic

The Western Iowa Tech men's basketball team won its first game against an NJCAA Division I opponent Friday night in Wahpeton, North Dakota.

The Comets beat Williston State 86-68 behind a 26-point, eight-rebound effort from Manuel Paul on Day 1 of the Baymont Inn Classic.

Silas Coleman scored 13 points and Keishaun Pendleton scored 10 as the Comets got scoring from all 11 players who entered the game.

"(We) built a good lead and sustained that lead throughout the game," head coach Harvis 'CoCo' Cofield said. "We talk about coming out each game with high energy from the start until the end. I think we did that on both ends.

"It also helps when you are shooting well on the offensive end."

The Comets shot 53.6% (37-for-69) from the field, 53.8% (7-for-13) on 3-pointers and 83.3% (5-for-6) on free throws Friday night. All three shooting marks were season bests.

Paul was 12-for-13 from the floor and made both of his free throws. He added three steals and three assists while not commiting any turnovers against the Tetons.

"Manny has been really playing well the last couple of games," Cofield said. "This particular game he was the best player on the floor and displayed a lot of individual highlights with several dunks and was really aggressive."

Ashton Pennamon had nine points, five rebounds and four assists. Simarion Anderson scored six points and tied for a team-high of four assists. Coleman had a game-high three blocks.

The Comets led 46-29 at halfime.

Saturday's game was much closer at the half, with the Comets trailing NJCAA Division I North Dakota State College of Science 33-29.

The Comets couldn't recreate the hot shooting that carried them on Friday, however, and fell 78-59 to the host Wildcats, who are receiving votes in the D1 polls as of this writing.

"(The Wildcats) are one of the top D1 juco programs," Cofield said. "They are built like a lot of teams in our conference, so it was good for us to play them as a non-conference opponent. We will watch film and get better from this game."

The Comets shot season-low marks of 37.5% from the field and 25% from three while the Wildcats took 13 more shots, 11 of which were 3-pointers.

Cofield said the Comets gave up too many second-chance points by not securing defensive rebounds and by committing too many turnovers.

The Wildcats outrebounded the Comets 47-37, and had 20 offensive rebounds. WIT committed 20 turnovers to NDSCS's 13.

Coleman and Latel Davis scored 11 points each for the Comets. 

Nhial Manuel was a spark off the bench with four points, a rebound, block and an assist.

"Big Mike (Manuel) really came in and gave us some good minutes with his active play," Cofield said. "He also had one huge dunk that gave us some momentum."