Submitted by Fox First at Ten on November 7th
PULLMAN, Wash. – Senior forward Brock Motum scored a game-high 21 points and senior guard Mike Ladd added 12 as the Washington State University men's basketball team defeated Saint Martin's 62-50, Tuesday in exhibition action at Beasley Coliseum.
Redshirt junior D.J. Shelton (Rialto, Calif.) finished with 9 rebounds and 8 points, while redshirt sophomore Royce Woolridge (Phoenix, Ariz.) reached double-figures with 10 points and had a game-high 3 steals. Woolridge sat out the 2011-12 season due to NCAA rules after transferring from Kansas.
Motum (Brisbane, Australia) added 5 rebounds, while Ladd (Seattle, Wash.) had 7 boards. In all 10 Cougars saw action, including four making their debut in a Washington State uniform. Joining Woolridge were sophomore James Hunter (Sydney, Australia), and freshmen Junior Longrus (Oakland, California) and Brett Boese (Spokane, Wash.).
Roger O'Neill had a team-high 13 points for Saint Martin's, adding 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Matt Dodson was the only other Saint in double figures with 11 points and 6 rebounds. Rei Jensen chipped in 7 points and 7 boards, while Eric Taylor had 3 steals.
"I thought they (Saint Martin's) did a good job," WSU Head Coach Ken Bone said. "They played hard, they played together and I think Saint Martin's deserves a lot of credit for the way they played tonight."
Saint Martin's opened up the game with a 3-pointer less than a minute into action, as it led until the 11:48 mark when a 3-pointer by Motum tied the game at 11. The Cougars took their first lead of the game at 18-15 with 8:10 to go in the half on a 3-pointer by DaVonté Lacy. WSU held onto the lead throughout the rest of the period, leading 28-26 at halftime.
"I think we started off a little slow…but in the second half we picked it up," Motum said. "We didn't finish off the way we should have, but it's an exhibition game, the first game of the season and we've got a lot to learn still. But I think it was a step to improvement and we saw areas we need to improve on."
The Saints opened the second half on a 5-0 run to take a 31-30 lead with 17 minutes to go in the game. A basket by Woolridge gave the Cougars the lead back, 32-31, with 16:51 to go. The Cougars went on to lead by as many as 12 at 47-35 with 9:16 to go and then again at 56-44 with 4:34 to play. WSU reached its largest lead of the game of 16 points at the 2:05 mark, leading 62-46. The Saints scored the final 4 points as the Cougars won by 12 points, 62-50.
The Cougars open the 2012-13 season, Saturday, Nov. 10 against Eastern Washington at 4:30 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum. The game is part of the preliminary rounds of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic and can be seen on the Pac-12 Networks. The WSU basketball game will take place before the Cougar football squad hosts UCLA at Martin Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
