Weber State men’s basketball didn’t have a particularly compelling game on Friday, trailing Utah Tech by a small margin for most of the evening.

But in the final moments, the Wildcats managed to make the plays they needed to make the final score in a game that featured 11 ties and 11 lead changes. The final point came when senior guard Miguel Tomley drove down the lane and drained a high, one-handed floater with 0.2 seconds remaining to give Weber State a 73-71 win at Burns Arena in St. George bestow.

WSU head coach Eric Duft said his team used consistent effort to overcome the struggle for energy during a week in which his players had to leave the final early to make the bus ride.

“People forget that these guys have to go to school too,” Duft said. “It’s a busy week. Mentally they’re probably a little crazy. But we found enough. It wasn’t our best performance… but it was a great performance. We just dug it up and found it.”

Tomley finished the game with 21 points and team-highs of four assists and two steals, scoring his second go-ahead goal of the season in the final 30 seconds.

Senior guard Noa Gonsalves finished with a team-high 19 points to give Utah Tech (2-10) a 67-65 lead with 1:59 left. That’s when the series of must-win plays began for Weber State (5-6).

First, Vasilije Vucinic capped his big night with a putback of a round-and-out drive from Blaise Threatt, which gave him 14 points and 13 rebounds and tied the game at 67-67 with 1:32 left.

Vucinic, making his first start of the season for WSU, scored 14 points on a combined 13-of-14 shooting average in each of his last two games.

Then Nigel Burris was the first to catch a bad pass from a falling Dyson Koehler and drew a loose ball foul. He hit his free throws to give WSU a 69-68 lead.

Moments later, Koehler knocked the ball away from a charging Justin Bieker and secured a steal that led to a foul and two Threatt free throws. Threatt did both, the second racing back and forth and the score was 71-68 with 20 seconds left.

At the other end, WSU almost failed. Samuel Ariyibi (18 points), who had kept Utah Tech off the boards throughout the second half, made one free throw but missed his second. Tennessee Rainwater outrebounded everyone and used a putback to tie the score at 71-71 with 14 seconds to play.

“Dyson was great in the scrum there. Blaise and Nigel weren’t happy, and that’s what you want. You want some competitiveness, you want some of that emotion. You have to channel it the right way, but we have to have some of that fire,” Duft said. “But Dyson reassured them and said, ‘Hey guys, we’re neck and neck. We’re going to make a play here.’”

Tomley handed Utah Tech a third bitter defeat against a Big Sky opponent after the Trailblazers had already suffered one-possession defeats against Montana and Portland State. After driving right, Threatt struck Tomley with his outstretched left elbow. Tomley fought through contact from Gonsalves to push his banker over the assist and give WSU the win.

Duft said his team put together end-of-game action in a shootout today.

Threatt finished the game with 14 points and five rebounds – a less balanced performance than usual that was marred by foul trouble but saw the guard go 6 of 7 points at the foul line. Burris added nine points and eight rebounds. Köhler 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 bay for most of the evening, mostly through unusually good 3-point shooting. Gonsalves hit three 3s and the Trailblazers started the game 7 of 13 from deep and took a seven-point lead on a Bieker triple with 11 minutes left.

But Weber State eventually slowed the flow of the game, holding the home team to one of its final six goals from behind the arc. Burris and Koehler scored three goals in a row and a quick 8-1 run kept the game tied with 7:26 left and the lead seesawed until the end.

“We’re like the Chiefs,” said Duft, referring to his favorite NFL team. “It’s every close game you could be a part of. But… it will help us. If you don’t play in close games and get into the conference, it’s going to be difficult. Every game in the conference is a challenge.”

With the nod to Vucinic, senior center Alex Tew, who has been a starting center for nearly three years, came off the bench and totaled one rebound, one assist and one steal in 11 minutes.

“We asked Alex to take on a different role for us on this team and I thought he was great defensively,” Duft said. “He was so good out there and I’m really proud of him.”

Weber High School graduate Hunter Schenck had two points and a rebound in 11 minutes for Utah Tech.

Weber State returns home for two games before a short holiday break. The Wildcats host Lincoln University-California on Wednesday before facing Utah Valley on Saturday, December 21st.