(Editor’s note: University of Providence athletics release)
PHOENIX, Ariz. – Argo men’s basketball opened up their competition in the Cactus Classic with a 91-79 victory over the Ottawa Spirit on Friday.
Three Argos surpassed the 20-point mark with Austin Starr leading the team with 25 points. Brandon Cotton and Jalen Shepard were the other two Argos join him knocking down 24 and 21 points, respectively. Jaxen Hashley collected a team-high nine boards.
The Spirit got out to a quick start as they outscored the Argos in the opening three minutes, 11-4. A layup from D’shea Williams helped to spark a turnaround as they Argos responded with a 9-2 run to tie things up at 13. Brandon Cotton knocked down a three to give the Argos their first lead of the game, 16-13. Two field goals would put OUAZ back on top, 17-16, but a Cotton layup quickly gave the advantage back to the Argos, 18-17. The Argos would maintain the lead for the remainder of the period as they would lead by as much as nine, but they closed out the period with a five-point advantage, 40-35.
OUAZ came out of the locker room on a 9-2 run to retake the lead at the 18:17 minute mark, 44-42, but a long-range bucket from Cotton put the Argos back on top, 45-44. The Argos would continue to lead over the next five minutes of clock, but a three from the Spirit would eventually give OUAZ the lead with 12 minutes remaining, 59-57. The Argos went on a 10-6 run over the next four minutes of clock, capped off by a Starr three, to retake the lead with less than 10 minutes to play, 67-65. OUAZ would knot things up at four more times at 69, 72, 74, and 76 but that was as close as they would get. A layup from Cotton would put the Argos up, 78-76, with four minutes and 30 seconds remaining. The Argos dominated the rest of the game as they held the Spirit to only three points in route to a 91-79 victory.
