The Cowboys (4-0) held Louisiana (3-2) to 33 percent from the field and 15 percent from behind the arc in a 70-61 victory on Tuesday afternoon in the semifinals of the Caymans Islands Classic in George Town, Cayman Islands. The Cowboys bench had its strongest game of the season pouring in 38 points.
 
"I like to brag about our depth, and after losing Justin James for the game and Hayden Dalton having an off game, who are two of our top guys," Edwards said. "I thought guys like Lou (Adams) stepped up with his aggression and Ny (Redding) did a great job at the line. I thought Alex (Aka Gorski) being a few days back from injury did a solid job that helps us with what he wants to do."
 
The Cowboys now move on to the championship game against the winner of Richmond or No. 12 Cincinnati. That game will be played this evening.
 
"At the end of the day, I have been blessed as a coach and player to be in position to compete for a championship," Edwards said. "In our position of being able to compete for that opportunity and understand the hard work that needs to be put in to compete for a championship. It is a great field with interesting matchups that has been very competitive. We have to do what we need to do to come home with a championship."
 
Senior Alexander Aka Gorski scored 16 points off the bench on 3-of-6 shooting from behind the three-point line. He also went 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the second half. Fellow senior guard Louis Adams added 14 points for UW, as he went 4-of-5 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
 
Senior forward Alan Herndon added 10 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Junior guard Nyaires Redding scored a career-high 13 points going a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.
 
The Pokes were impressive from the free throw line all afternoon shooting 83 percent going 25-of-30. Wyoming went 17-of-20 from the line in the second half. Wyoming finished the game shooting 42 percent from the field. Louisiana held the advantage on the boards 40-38 and scoring in the paint 32-16.
 
"In a sense of getting prepared for Louisiana, we knew they were a physical and scrappy team," UW head coach Allen Edwards said.  "They give great effort on both sides of the floor, but at times they could be chaotic and we wanted to be disciplined offensively. Defensively, we wanted to stay in front of them and one of the things we did great was taking charges. Our guys did a really good job sacrificing their bodies to take a charge today."
 
Like yesterday's contest, both teams got off to a slow start offensively with the Ragin' Cajuns holding a 6-3 advantage six minutes into the contest. The Pokes opened the contest 1-for-9 until Herndon tied the game at six with a triple at the 12:27 mark of the opening frame.
 
The Pokes would take a 13-12 lead on another three pointer from Herndon with 8:54 remaining in the opening half. To that point of the contest, the Ragin' Cajuns were 0-of-6 from behind the three point line and finished 4-of-27.
 
The Cowboys offense settled in to take a 21-17 lead with 5:10 remaining in the half. The Cowboys scored with layups on three-consecutive possessions. Junior guard Justin James had two of those layups for the Pokes. After James went out being hit in the mouth on a rebound, Adams helped the Pokes extend the lead to nine points at 28-19 with 2:30 remaining in the half.
 
The Cowboys closed out their scoring in the half with a triple from Aka Gorski and a put back dunk form sophomore forward Andrew Moemeka to make it a 35-23 game at the half. After a slow start to the first half, the Pokes finished the opening stanza shooting 48 percent from the field and held Louisiana to 27 percent.
 
After the Pokes pushed the lead to 13 points to open the frame, the Ragin' Cajuns went on a 7-0 run to make it a 38-32 game with 16:41 remaining. The Pokes used a 5-0 run minutes later on free throws and a layup to make it 46-34 with a tick under 15 minutes left in the second period.
 
The Pokes went 5:49 without scoring late in the second half, but still maintained a double-digit lead with 6:29 remaining. The Cowboys made four technical free throws after Ragin' Cajun coach Bob Marlin was ejected to push the lead back to 13 points at 58-45. Adams would hit a deep three pointer to make it 61-45 seconds later, as UW led by 15 with 3:47 remaining.
 
Louisiana cut the deficit to 10 points at 61-51 on a 6-0 run with under three minutes left. The Ragin' Cajuns made it a six point game with 48 seconds remaining. After a pair of free throws by Adams, another three pointer by Louisiana made it a 66-61 game with 33 seconds remaining. But the Pokes held on for the 70-61 win.

The Rajun' Cajuns were led by guard Frank Bartley, as he had a game-high 19 points. Forward Jakeenan Gant had 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds. The Cowboys held the Louisiana offense in check, as they came into the game averaging 96 points per game.
 
The Cowboys will play the winner of Richmond and #12 Cincinnati Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. MT. in the Cayman Islands Classic title game.