After spending two weekends on the road, the Western Nebraska Community College will get to play in front of the home crowd Tuesday when they host Adams State junior varsity.

                The Cougars, 3-1, will tip off the Grizzly jayvee team at 7 p.m. at Cougars Palace.

                Djodje Dimitrijevic said the team is looking forward to play at home.

                "We have three games this week that are important to us and the first home game we are excited to play at home," the 6-foot-1 freshman from Serbia said.

                Tuesday's home contest is the first of three games this week as the Cougars then head to Salt Lake City, Utah, for a tournament where they will face No. 10 Salt Lake Community College, who won the national title a year ago, and then Snow College on Friday and Saturday.

                "It will be tough games this weekend, especially against Salt Lake because they won national championship last year and we play at their house," Dimitrijevic said. "But we know what they have. They are pretty talented and they are a disciplined team. We are getting in better shape and we are getting better. I think it will be a better match than at Casper."

                First and foremost, though, is Tuesday's game with Adam State. Dimitrijevic said the team will be ready after having a week off of competition.

                "We have fresh legs now and we are rested," he said. "We should be prepared for Adams State."

                WNCC is off to a good start, too. WNCC opened the season Nov. 4-5 with wins over the College of Southern Idaho and the Ft. Collins All-stars. Then, on Nov. 11-12, the Cougars went 1-1 falling to Salt Lake Community College in Casper, Wyoming, 73-57, before beating Miles Community College 64-57.

                "We had a really good start winning the first two games, but then the second weekend against Salt Lake and Miles we had some bad times because we couldn't make shots," he said. "We still went 1-1 and I think we will be in better shape this week."

                The Cougars are led by three players with double-figure scoring. Dimitrijevic leads the team, pouring in 19 points a game. Dimitrijevic is shooting 42 percent from the 3-point arc (8 of 19) and 51 percent from the floor.

                Freshman Vinnie Shahid and Trent Harris are also pouring in 10 or more points a game. Shahid is averaging 12.4 points and is making 85 percent of his free throws (23 of 27), while popping in five 3-pointers. Shahid has also dished off 19 assists this season.

                Harris, a Scottsbluff grad, is averaging 10.2 points a game. Harris is making 46 percent of his 3-pointers (6 of 13) and pulled down 11 rebounds.

                Sophomore transfer Jeremy Ruffin is leading the team on the glass, cleaning the boards with 29 rebounds. Marlon Sierra has also cleaned the class with 14 boards.

                After this weekend, the Cougars will hit the road next week when they face No. 21 Casper College before opening up Region IX South play on Dec. 3 at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyoming.