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Men's Basketball Wins Seventh Annual Gossner Foods Classic Over Air Force 59-50
Dec. 30, 2000
LOGAN, Utah - Behind 17 points and 12 rebounds from senior forward Shawn Daniels (Bakersfield, Calif.), who was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, Utah State won its seventh consecutive Gossner Foods Classic with a 59-50 win over the Air Force Academy. The Aggies improved to 10-2 on the year with the win, while Air Force fell to 4-8 with the loss. Utah State is now 14-0 all-time in its annual holiday tournament, and Daniels become only the second player ever to win back-to-back MVP honors in the Gossner Foods Classic, joining former Aggie Eric Franson who accomplished the feat in 1994 and 1995. "For 30 minutes, we did what we needed to do," commented Utah State head coach Stew Morrill. "Our zone defense definitely helped us. They're (Air Force) a different team to guard and to play. They run a lot of backdoors and they fire three's. They're a very good shooting team." Utah State built a 34-22 lead at the half behind 11 points from Daniels as the Aggies shot 52.6 percent from the field. USU increased its lead to 22 points at 49-27 with 11:37 remaining in the game before the Falcons went on a 23-10 run to end the game and close the gap to nine points. Along with Daniels' 17 points, he also nothced 12 rebounds, giving him his second double-double of the season and ninth of his career. USU is 9-0 all-time when Daniels records a double-double. Senior forward Curtis Bobb (Aurora, Colo.) was the only other Aggie to record double-digits as he had 10 points. Senior forward Jarvis Croff became just the 15th Falcon ever to score over 1,000 points in a career at Air Force in the game as he had a game-high 20 points. Fellow forward Robert Todd added 18 points, 15 of which came in the second half.
Utah State finished the game by shooting just 39.1 percent from the floor, but did convert on 20-of-23 free throws for a 87 percent mark. Air Force also shot 39.1 percent from the field in the game, but shot just two free throws in the contest.
Utah State will begin Big West play next week as it travels to Cal Poly and Idaho on Jan. 4 and Jan. 6. USU has won its last 19 games against Big West opponents. All-Tournament Team 1. Jarvis Croff, Air Force 2. Ray Mercedes, Cornell 3. E.J. Gallup, Albany 4. Sam Hopes, Albany 5. Tony Brown, Utah State MVP - Shawn Daniels, Utah State |
