The Western Nebraska Community College men’s struggled throughout the contest, but the 16th ranked Cougars found a way to capture a 74-68 sub-region win against Laramie County Community College Thursday night at Cougar Palace.
The Cougars picked up their 19th win of the season as they had more runs than the Golden Eagles. WNCC also shot the ball better from the free throw line than LCCC, canning 57% of their free throws (19 of 33), while LCCC was just 46% (13 of 28).
LCCC was 2 of 9 from the charity stripe in the first half and opened the second half missing seven straight before Rodrigo Silva hit the first free throw six minutes into the half.
The two squads also combined on 46 fouls (23 for each team), and both squads were in the double bonus in the second half with 10:46 left to play.
WNCC coach Russ Beck said they got the win and that is all the matters. “It was just one of those nights. We have been on a feverishly pace with scoring and we were bound to have a night where we didn’t shoot the ball,” Beck said.
“I am glad we got the win, but, at the same time, it was probably the worst game we played all year in terms of our intensity and tenacity for 40 minutes.
I didn’t like the way we finished the game and was disappointed in our guys in that regard. The thing about college basketball is not we get a chance to play here in a couple days and see if we can’t get better.”
The win gives the Cougars a 6-0 sub-region mark while LCCC drops to 6-2 in conference play. WNCC still controls their own destiny as they prepare for another sub-region encounter at Cougar Palace at 11 a.m. on Saturday against North Platte Community College.
“We need a better game against North Platte,” Beck said. “I woke up with a bad feeling this morning and I am just glad we got the win. Now we have to focus on North Platte.”
The first half was a battle between the top two south sub-region teams. WNCC went on an 8-run early to jump to a 15-10 lead, only to watch the Golden Eagles on an 8-0 of their own behind five points from Julian Chiera and three points from Philip Freeman.
WNCC came back to close out the half with seven straight points including two free throws by Mike Peltz, a 3-pointer by Raul Delgado, and a bucket by Brady Mason for the 26-23 halftime lead.
The Cougars had two key runs in the second half. Early on, WNCC went on a 5-0 run to lead 31-25 and later pushed the lead to 44-38 on a Tahir Little driving lay-up. The Cougars pushed the lead to double digits, 62-48 as Peltz had an old-fashioned 3-pointer and Delgado hitting a 3-pointer.
LCCC fought back as they went on an 8-0 run of their own added by six points from Charles Cookes to cut the lead to 62-56.
WNCC went on another 9-0 run as Peltz got things started with a driving lay-in and then Marko Kovacevic scored his first points of the game with about a minute left in the game to put WNCC up 71-56. LCCC scored the final six points of the game to close to the final score.
WNCC put four players in double figures. Delgado finished with 18 points, including five 3-pointers. Du'Vaughn Maxwell finished with 17 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots, while Terrance Motley had 14 points and Peltz had 11 points and six assists.
LCCC was led by Chiera with 17 points, including three 3-pointers, while Freeman and Cooks each had 14 points.
LCCC (11-11) 23 45 -- 68
WNCC (19-3) 26 48 -- 74
LCCC -- Bruno Machedo 9, Charles Cooke 14, Philip Freeman 14, Julien Chiera 17, Ude Ifeanyichukwu 5, Rodrigo Silva 9.
WNCC -- Tahir Little 3, Mike Peltz 11, Brady Mason 5, Du'Vaughn Maxwell 17, Raul Delgado 18, Sebastian Suarez 2, Marko Kovacevic 4, Terrance Motley 14.
