The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team will head into the semester break with some confidence after picking up two wins this weekend.

On Friday, the Cougars downed North Platte Community College and then followed up that win with a complete game performance in downing Region IX South foe McCook Community College 98-78.

In picking up the win, the Cougars put five players in double figures and out-rebounded the Indians 48-40 to claim the Region IX South win.

Tyrell Williams, who finished with 15 points along with Michael Sparks, said this was a good win for the squad.

"This win was a very big win for us especially since this is the last game of the year for us," Williams said. "We just wanted to out and do what we were planning all week. After our losing streak, we needed these two wins to get on track."

Shooting was definitely a big key in the game. WNCC blistered the net in the first half, shooting 62 percent and finished the game shooting 53 percent. McCook was a tad colder on the night, shooting 31 percent for the game.

Plus, the Cougars had balanced scoring. Besides Williams and Sparks in double digits, Daylong Harris tallied 11 points, while Phil Fayne and Andrew Ramirez each had 10. Williams said the balanced scoring is what this team strives for.

"That is why we are much better because we have a slogan 'Everybody eats'," he said. "We play in the flow of the game because we play as a team. And not as one."

                WNCC never trailed in the contest as they bolted to a 6-0 lead and stayed in front except for once when the Cougars and Indians were tied at 33. That tie in the first half was short lived as WNCC came right back to go on a 17-5 run behind a big 3-pointer by Chase Mason and a dunk by Mason Smith.

                WNCC finished off the half on a Michael Sparks.3-pointer, taking a 10-point lead, 53-43, into the locker room.

                The second half belonged to WNCC as Fayne opened the half with two thundering dunks and WNCC led 61-43 within the first two minutes. McCook would get the lead to within 10 points, 67-57 with 13 minutes to play, but McCook never could crack single digits because the Cougars used strong defensive rebounding, limiting McCook to many times one shot.

                WNCC doubled up the Indians at 80-60 on Williams' old-fashioned 3-point play and pushed the lead to 24 points minutes later, 90-66 as Austin Payne and Ramirez each had driving lay-ins.

                Williams said the second half was huge in how the team played.

                "The second half was our momentum going into the game," he said. "We knew we needed to come out in the second half and we did what we were supposed to do because we came out with the win."

                Another big key in the win was the Cougar's depth. WNCC had 55 points off the bench compared to just 37 for McCook. WNCC also had 61 defensive stops in the contest; 13 more than McCook.

                The win moves the Cougars to 2-3 in South play, while McCook suffers its first conference loss. Otero leads the conference race with a 4-0 record after dropping Northeastern Junior College Saturday 109-94. Other South conference games Saturday saw North Platte sting Eastern Wyoming 98-73 and Laramie County needed overtime to get by Trinidad 73-70

                WNCC, 10-5, will next be in action Jan. 8 and 9 when they travel to face NJC and Lamar.

McCook (11-2)                  43 35 – 78

WNCC (10-5)                      53 45 – 98]

MCCOOK

Hakim Davis 4, Lewis Diankulu 8, Brody Sharkey 11, Evan Drake 6, Draylan Perkins 21, Kafani Williams 3, Daniel Arp 4, Deng Autiak 2, Marquis White 3, Brandon Goldsmith 10, Makuei Puondak 6.

MCCOOK STATS
REBOUNDS – Chuol Biel 5, Goldsmith 5, Sharkey 4; ASSISTS – White 4, Perkins 3, Sharkey 2; STEALS – Davis 2; 3-POINTERS – Perkins 4, Drake 2, Sharkey 2, Goldsmith 1.

WNCC

Marquin Walton 2, Daylon Harris 11, Mason Smith 6, RJ Palmer 6, Michael Sparks 15, Austin Payne 2, Leon Tomic 4, Michael Connor 2, Michael New 1, Bo McVay 2, Derrick Bowers 5, Chase Mason 7, Phil Fayne 10, Andrew Ramirez 10, Tyrell Williams 15.

WNCC STATS

REBOUNDS – Williams 4, Fayne 4, Bowers 3, Tomic 7, Payne 6, Palmer 3, Harris 2; ASSISTS – Smith 5, Sparks 3, Tomic 4, Mason 2; STEALS – Smith 2, McVay 3, Ramirez 3; BLOCKS – Williams 2; 3-POINTERS – Sparks 2, Mason 1, Ramirez 1.