“He’s very mature. He plays hard constantly. His competitive character is really, really high,” Duft said after WSU’s Nov. 29 home win. “He’s just a really versatile player. He’s had a couple years early in his career where he didn’t play as much as he is now, so he’s learning how to be that dominant player for a longer stretch.”

That came together Wednesday night and Weber State needed every bit of it, getting a career night from Gomma to outlast Kansas City 64-60 at the Swinney Center.

Gomma totaled 19 points and 13 rebounds, both career-highs, while adding three steals and one block in 32 minutes to lead WSU to a win despite the team coughing up 18 turnovers, giving up 12 offensive rebounds and shooting 9 of 18 at the foul line. (In an otherwise great night, Gomma was 1 of 7 at the stripe.)

Senior forward Nigel Burris added 14 points, including an important 3-of-5 mark from the 3-point line; all other Wildcats shot 2 of 15 from distance. Junior guard Jace Whiting added nine points, six rebounds and five assists.

WSU led for 33 minutes of the 40-minute contest but never by more than eight. Weber had already absorbed an 8-0 run that erased a 50-42 lead with 9:39 left (KC made it 50-50 at the 6:17 mark).

Tijan Saine Jr. hit a 3-pointer with 4:52 left to put WSU up for good at 55-52 and Burris made his team’s final field goal with a 3 to make the score 62-54 with 3:02 left.

But Kansas City post Jerome Palm grabbed one of his five offensive rebounds for a putback basket to cut it to 62-60 with 1:24 left. WSU missed its final two field goal attempts but luckily Jayson Petty logged a 0-for-2 free-throw trip for the home team in the final stretch.

Weber dodged another bullet when Palm pulled down his sixth offensive rebound but couldn’t get his putback to fall in the closing seconds. Trevor Hennig secured the rebound and was fouled, and made two free throws to ice the game.

Palm finished with a cool 15 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks in the loss for Kansas City (1-9). The Roos couldn’t quite taste their first Division I win of the season after losing by 21 in Ogden last month. U’Riyah Evans also scored 15 points. Karmello Branch (2 of 13) and Kasheem Grady II (2 of 4) made all of KC’s 3-pointers on a 4-of-25 night.

For Weber State (5-5), Hennig had an eventful night with eight points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and six turnovers. Saine added eight points, and Edwin Suarez Jr. pitched in six points and six rebounds.

Weber State takes a week to prepare for Utah Valley (7-3) in a road game Wednesday, Dec. 17, in Orem.