BYU Downs EA Sports All-Stars

PROVO -- BYU overcame an early first-half deficit and withheld a late surge to beat EA Sports Southwest All-Stars 89-84 in an exhibition game Tuesday night at the Marriott Center.

EA Sports jumped out to 10-0 lead as former Colorado State center Joe Vogel and former University of Utah guard Tony Harvey got the All-Stars running from the tip in a very fast-paced first half.

Following a BYU timeout, Travis Hansen hit a jumper and a Kevin Woodberry steal and breakaway jam gave the Cougars momentum. Woodberry then drained two three-pointers to draw the Cougars to within six.

"Our match-ups were really bad at the beginning which is the reason why we got off to a bad start," Cleveland said. "Being an exhibition game, I wanted to let them play for a while before making any changes."

EA Sports' Ronnell Mingo, a former Wyoming Cowboy, made a jumper in the lane to give the All-Stars their biggest lead of the game at 12. BYU fought back on three pointers from Mark Bigelow and Terry Nashif, cutting the lead to 28-26.

A John Allen put-back off a Ricky Bower three-point attempt brought the Cougars to within one point, 38-37, at the end of the first half. BYU shot just 36 percent from the floor in the first half compared to 50 percent by the All-Stars.

The Cougars used hot three-point shooting in the second half to take the lead. BYU climbed to an eight-point advantage with just under five minutes after a trey by junior guard Ricky Bower but EA Sports scored the next four points to trail 73-69 with 4:05 left.

A Travis Hansen technical foul and two subsequent Vogel free throws allowed the All-Stars to take the lead at 84-83 with just over a minute remaining. On the next possession, Bigelow drove the baseline and scored to put the Cougars up 85-84.

At the other end, Harvey missed a three-point attempt and the ball bounced out

of bounds. BYU hit four free throws down the stretch to earn the win 89-84.

For BYU, Bigelow finished with 23 points and eight rebounds. Woodberry added 16 points and dished out five assists, while Travis Hansen scored 15 points and grabbed eight boards. John Allen came off the bench and chipped in 11 points and three rebounds.

"We really came after them defensively in the second half," Woodberry said. "That's what really changed things for us."

Vogel led all scorers with 29 points. Former Wyoming guard Brett McFall contributed 15 and guard Joe Smith of Alabama Huntsville added 14 for the All-Stars.

EA Sports falls 1-3 with the loss. The All-Stars opened Friday by beating Utah 92-86 in Salt Lake City before dropping games to Weber State and Utah State on Saturday and Monday. EA Sports continues its month-long exhibition schedule at Texas Tech on Thursday in Lubbock, Texas.

BYU will play its final exhibition game on Nov. 13 when it hosts the Dominican Republic National Team at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
E.A. Sports vs BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars
11-05-02 7:00 at Marriott Center BYU Provo UT
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VISITORS: E.A. Sports 1-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 MCFALL,  Brett...... *  5-14   1-6    4-6    2  4  6   1  15  2  4  0  2  33
05 SMITH, Joe.......... *  6-11   2-7    0-1    1  1  2   3  14  1  2  0  1  29
21 BRADFORD, Nick...... *  3-5    0-1    2-3    4  2  6   4   8  2  2  0  1  23
33 THOMAS, Aki......... *  1-6    0-0    0-0    0  4  4   1   2  2  1  0  0  27
44 VOGEL, Joe.......... * 10-17   3-5    6-6    1  3  4   1  29  1  2  1  0  31
03 MCLEMORE, Maurice...    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  1  0  1  18
04 CROSBY, Chris.......    1-4    1-1    0-0    0  5  5   0   3  0  1  0  0  13
23 HARVEY, Tony........    4-8    1-3    0-0    2  3  5   4   9  4  2  0  0  17
31 MINGO, Ronnell......    2-4    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   4   4  0  0  1  0   9
   TEAM................                         4     4
   Totals..............   32-69   8-23  12-16  14 24 38  19  84 12 15  2  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-32 50.0%   2nd Half: 16-37 43.2%   Game: 46.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-9  44.4%   2nd Half:  4-14 28.6%   Game: 34.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-3  66.7%   2nd Half: 10-13 76.9%   Game: 75.0%    0
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HOME TEAM: BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars 1-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 HANSEN, Travis...... f  7-18   0-3    1-1    3  5  8   5  15  2  4  0  2  27
03 BIGELOW, Mark....... f  6-9    3-5    8-9    0  8  8   1  23  3  1  1  1  33
40 HOWARD, Dan......... f  0-2    0-0    0-0    4  1  5   0   0  2  1  1  0  10
24 WOODBERRY, Kevin.... g  5-11   4-10   2-2    0  3  3   2  16  5  1  2  0  30
52 JENSEN, Jared....... *  2-6    0-1    5-6    1  1  2   1   9  0  0  0  1  15
04 LEMES, Luiz.........    0-3    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  0  0  0  13
10 NASHIF, Terry.......    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   3  0  0  0  0  11
14 BOWER, Ricky........    2-5    2-4    0-0    1  2  3   2   6  2  0  0  0  18
15 ALLEN, John.........    3-8    1-3    4-4    2  1  3   2  11  1  1  0  1  26
55 ARAUJO, Rafael......    1-5    0-0    4-7    4  4  8   3   6  1  4  1  1  17
   TEAM................                         4  2  6
   Totals..............   27-68  11-28  24-29  19 27 46  17  89 17 12  5  6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-36 36.1%   2nd Half: 14-32 43.8%   Game: 39.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-17 29.4%   2nd Half:  6-11 54.5%   Game: 39.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-6  100 %   2nd Half: 18-23 78.3%   Game: 82.8%    2
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Officials: Richard Ball, Roosevelt Brown, Bob Staffen
Technical fouls: E.A. Sports-None. BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars-HANSEN, Travis.
Attendance: 5112
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
E.A. Sports...................   38   46  -   84
BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars.........   37   52  -   89

PROVO -- The BYU men's basketball team opens its exhibition season Tuesday night when it hosts the EA Sports Southwest All-Stars at 7 p.m. in the Marriott Center.

Led by senior Travis Hansen, the Cougars return three starters and eight lettermen while introducing seven newcomers to the team. With its increased talent and depth, this year's team is expected to challenge for the Mountain West Conference title.

EA Sports is off to a 1-1 start on its 15-game November schedule. The All-Stars opened with a 92-86 victory over Utah Friday before losing at Utah State, 106-97, on Saturday. EA Sports plays Weber State Monday.

The Southwest All-Stars are coached by Pete Cassidy and consists of a nine-man roster of former college players. Five players on the roster played for Mountain West Conference schools, including Utah's Tony Harvey, Wyoming's Ronnell Mingo and Brett McFall, San Diego State's Al Faux and Colorado State's Joe Vogel. Other All-Stars are Nick Bradford (Kansas), Iona Enosa (BYU-Hawaii), Maurice McLemore (Pacific) and Joe Smith (Alabama Huntsville).

Tickets to the game can be purchased at the Marriott Center Ticket Office or by calling 378-BYU1. Tickets prices are $5 for upper bench, $10 for upper chair, $15 for lower chair and $5 for students.