Dec. 19, 2002

Box Score

By ROBERT W. BLACK
Associated Press Writer

LARAMIE, Wyo. - Uche Nsonwu-Amadi returned from a knee injury to score 14 points and grab 10 rebounds and Marc Bailey scored a game-high 19 points to lead Wyoming over South Carolina 77-63 on Thursday.

Joe Ries and David Adams each scored 11 points and Jay Straight added 10 for the Cowboys (7-2), who won their fourth straight.

South Carolina (5-3) was led by Kerbrell Brown, who scored 14 points off the bench, and Chuck Eidson, who added 13.

Nsonwu-Amadi, a 6-foot-10 senior center who had missed five of the Cowboys' last six games with a sprained knee, helped stymie a surge by South Carolina that had pulled the Gamecocks from 10 points to within five.

After Brown's jump hook at the 10:58 mark cut the Cowboys' lead to 49-44, Nsonwu-Amadi contributed four points, three rebounds and a steal during a 13-6 spurt that allowed Wyoming to take control.

Ries' hook shot in the lane capped the run and put Wyoming up 62-50 with 6:54 left. The lead eventually reached 68-54 on a free throw by Donta Richardson. He had replaced Bailey, who went down with an apparent ankle injury after a foul by Michael Boynton on a fast-break layup attempt.

After two baskets by Brown drew South Carolina within 35-33, Wyoming scored six straight to go up 42-33 with 15:51 remaining. The highlight of the surge was a layup and free throw by Adams on an end-to-end solo fast break.

Carlos Powell's steal and layup with 8:54 remaining in the opening half gave South Carolina a 19-17 lead, but the Cowboys closed with an 18-12 run to go up 35-29 at intermission.

Bailey's 3-pointer at the 7:51 mark kick-started the run, in which he scored 10 of his 12 first-half points.