Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Utah Valley's basketball team achieved a decisive 92-57 victory over Western Colorado.
- Carter and Hayden Welling combined for 28 points, seven rebounds, and six blocks.
- Coach Todd Phillips praised the Wellings' performance, highlighting their impact on the game.
OREM — It was quite the offseason for Utah Valley after their comeback against Cal Baptist fell short in the WAC Tournament. Only retaining four players from last years roster — three that played regularly — the Wolverines have completely rebuilt its program.
Drake Allen left to Utah State, Trevin Dorius and Jaden McClanahan graduated, and everyone else left via the transfer portal. But as the transfer portal taketh away, it also giveth.
Former Corner Canyon standouts Carter Welling — who spent the two previous years at UC Irvine — came in to fill a big void that Dorius left and cement a frontcourt that Utah Valley has developed over the last few seasons.
Welling and the Wolverines dominated its season opener, taking down Western Colorado 92-57 in one of its nonconference games this season.
In the first half, it was the Welling show.
On the first sequence of the game, Welling posterized a Western Colorado defender, forced a bad shot attempt on the defensive drive, then sealed off a defender leading to a Tanner Toolson dunk. Two possessions later, he chased down former Timpanogos standout Trey Anderson and stuffed him at the rim.
Welling, who is the tallest player on the team at 6-foot-10, started for the Wolverines after starting 10 games for UC Irvine last season. He had 7 points, paired with four blocks in the first nine minutes of play.
"I think you are going to see a really good player this year from Carter Welling," head coach Todd Phillips said. "He is anxious to be a guy."
Oh, he also has a brother.
Hayden Welling was as efficient as it gets for Utah Valley, going a perfect 7-of-7 from the field with 15 points in his first game as a Wolverine. Carter and Hayden combined for 28 points, seven rebounds, and six blocks.
"Hayden was fantastic," Phillips said. "He is a different player than his brother and that is a good compliment to one another."
Through the first 10 minutes, Utah Valley had four offensive rebounds leading to 4 second-chance points, a critical statistic that the Wolverines struggled with last year.
But the Mountaineers did not make it easy on Utah Valley, trailing early 20-17 but keeping within distance.
The Wolverines started to separate, going on an 11-0 run by forcing three turnovers in a span of three minutes. The 11-0 run blossomed into a 15-2 run, prompting a WCU timeout.
After the first half, Utah Valley led 42-23 eclipsing the 40-point first-half mark for the first time since last season against Western Colorado where they scored 45.
Utah Valley opened hot in the second half, starting a 10-0 run backed by two Toolson shots from beyond the arc.
Throughout the second half, Utah Valley continued its offensive pressure by hitting four threes, something they struggled to do last season as a team finishing with the worst three point percentage in program history at 28.5%.
The Wolverines continued to put up shots, mainly Toolson who shot a modest 3-of-8 from beyond the arc while pouring in 15 points to lead all scorers.
Toolson's 13 points in the second half allowed Utah Valley to cruise to a dominant second-half.
"It's encouraging to have a win like this. We turned it over a lot but if we continue to learn and watch film we will continue to get better," Toolson said.
Toolson, the BYU transfer two seasons ago, is one of the four returning players from last seasons roster.
Other notable performances included transfer guard Dominick Nelson from Polk State who had 13 points, shooting 5-of-6 from the field and Trevan Leonhardt who dished out six assists with his seven points.
