This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
St. Louis • One of these days, coach Randy Rahe promises, Weber State will get to the NCAA Tournament and win a game.
The Wildcats' chance for their first tournament victory since 1999 came Friday night.
Weber trailed Xavier, the East Regional's No. 2-seeded team, by seven points with eight minutes left. The No. 15 Wildcats managed only two field goals down the stretch, however, and the heavily-favored Musketeers escaped with a 71-53 victory.
Weber State, the Big Sky Conference's regular-season and tournament champion, ended its season at 26-9. Only one other team in school history won more games.
"We thought we had a really good chance," said redshirt freshman center Zach Braxton, who finished with seven points and three rebounds in 23 minutes against Xavier.
"We thought we were going to come in here and win. There was never a doubt in our minds. But they played a great game. All the credit to them."
Xavier's tenacious defense limited Weber State's leading scorer, junior guard Jeremy Senglin, to only seven points. He went 3 for 11 from the field, including 0 for 5 on 3-pointers.
"It's difficult because we really felt we could win this game," Senglin said. "We just have to take it, think about it and come back next year."
Weber returns eight of its nine rotation regulars in 2016-17, but the player it loses is star forward Joel Bolomboy. He was the Big Sky's Most Valuable Player this season. He finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Xavier — his 26th double-double of the season and 54th of his career.
Asked how much the Wildcats will miss Bolomboy, Rahe said, "It's like I told him in the locker room, I didn't have the words. I mean, I just don't. …
"I remember the first day he walked onto campus. He was 6-8 and weighed 200 pounds. He was kind of a kid. And four years later, he's walking out of here a man. … He's a poster child for what we want in our program."
Like Senglin, Rahe is looking forward to next season, when the Wildcats will seek their third NCAA Tournament berth in four years.
"… I told these guys to remember what this feels like," he said, "because we're going to get back here and find a way to win a game. That's what we're going to do. I really believe that."
Said Braxton: "This was a great experience. We wish it would have gone a different way. But we came here and said we were going to fight and we fought as hard as we could. … We're excited for the future."
Twitter: @sluhm —
Looking back, and ahead
• Weber State finishes its season with a 26-9 record after a 71-53 loss to heavily-favored Xavier in the NCAA Tournament.
• Coach Randy Rahe has eight members of his regular rotation returning next season, which will be his 11th in Ogden.
• Weber's only departing senior is forward Joel Bolomboy, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds against the Musketeers.