PROVO -- Winning its third Cougar Classic title in as many years under Coach Steve Cleveland, BYU took command early and held off in-state rival Weber State for a 66-53 win Saturday in the Marriott Center.
Four Cougars scored in double figures led by Michael Vranes and Nathan Cooper with a game-high 15 points. Terrell Lyday and Mekeli Wesley added 12 apiece for BYU. Wesley continued his strong inside play with a team-high eight rebounds while forward Eric Nielsen and point guard Matt Montague each pulled down six boards.
Montague had a strong overall game, dishing out a season-high nine assists while playing tough defense on Weber State star point guard Eddie Gill. "Montague did an outstanding job defending Eddie Gill, who is very hard to defend," Cleveland said.
Montague's solid defensive effort held the speedy Wildcat point guard to half of his average as Gill managed eight points on 2-14 shooting. High scoring forward Harold Arceneaux scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds while center Stephan Bachmann led the Wildcats with 15 points.
The Cougars shot 48 percent in the first half and made 6-10 treys to take a 35-24 advantage into half time. On the perimeter, Vranes, Lyday and Cooper were the Cougar catalysts in the first half with 12, 10 and seven points, respectively. While the Cougars went 0-6 on threes in the second half, BYU was able to maintain its lead as Wesley came through in the final 20 minutes to score 10 of his 12 points.
With the win, BYU claimed its 17th Cougar Classic title in the 26 years of the event and improved to 6-1 on the year. Wesley, who scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds Friday night, was named the tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by Lyday, Arceneaux, Western Oregon's Mike Vanderhoff and Texas Southern's Chris Miller.
Texas Southern defeated Western Oregon, 82-77 in overtime, to win the consolation game.
BYU will take some time off for final exams next week before playing its next game Saturday at home against South Carolina State.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Weber State vs Brigham Young
12/11/99 7:40 at Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: Weber State 4-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 GATTO, Ivan......... f 2-4 0-0 1-1 2 4 6 3 5 2 1 0 0 29
21 ARCENEAUX, Harold... f 6-18 1-3 1-3 2 8 10 1 14 2 4 1 3 38
35 BACHMANN, Stephan... c 7-13 0-0 1-4 3 2 5 4 15 0 2 1 1 37
04 GILL, Eddie......... g 2-14 0-5 4-4 0 5 5 5 8 5 2 1 4 40
05 MOORE, Shawn........ g 1-7 1-3 0-0 1 1 2 2 3 1 0 0 0 30
13 THURIG, Marc........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3
15 KING, Damon......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
24 WOODS, Chris........ 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 8
43 MORRISON, Stevie.... 1-1 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 1 4 0 1 0 0 10
TEAM................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 21-59 2-11 9-14 10 24 34 17 53 10 12 3 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-27 .296 2nd Half: 13-32 .406 Game: .356 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 .286 2nd Half: 0-4 .000 Game: .182 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-9 .667 2nd Half: 3-5 .600 Game: .643 3
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young 6-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 WESLEY, Mekeli...... f 6-14 0-1 0-1 2 6 8 1 12 1 3 1 3 40
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f 1-5 0-0 2-3 3 3 6 3 4 0 1 0 0 23
13 VRANES, Michael..... g 6-14 2-4 1-2 2 3 5 2 15 3 3 0 0 29
24 LYDAY, Terrell...... g 5-8 1-3 1-1 0 4 4 1 12 1 2 1 0 36
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g 0-6 0-2 1-2 1 5 6 2 1 9 2 0 1 34
02 RIVERS, Silester.... 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 4 2 2 1 0 0 8
04 CHRISTENSEN, Todd... 2-4 1-3 0-0 0 2 2 0 5 0 1 1 1 8
42 COOPER, Nathan...... 3-4 2-3 7-8 0 4 4 1 15 2 2 0 1 22
TEAM................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 24-56 6-16 12-17 11 30 41 14 66 18 15 3 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-27 .481 2nd Half: 11-29 .379 Game: .429 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-10 .600 2nd Half: 0-6 .000 Game: .375 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 .600 2nd Half: 9-12 .750 Game: .706 2
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Officials: Bill Gracey, Steve Welmer, Mark Whitehead
Technical fouls: Weber State-None. Brigham Young-None.
Attendance: 9862
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Weber State................... 24 29 - 53
Brigham Young................. 35 31 - 66