LAMAR, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team were outscored 58-45 in falling to Lamar Community College 91-76 in a Region IX South Sub-region contest.

                The loss drops the Cougars to third in the sub-region with a 9-5 record. WNCC is 18-10 overall and will look to get back on the winning track when they travel to Northeastern Junior College Saturday night.

                The Cougar men trailed 33-31 at halftime and were in the game. The second half was the difference as Lamar scored the first six points and ran out to a double digit lead to get the win.

                WNCC had three players hit the double-figure column.

                Vinnie Shahid led with 18 points. Shahid also went 10-of-10 from the free throw line while dishing out four assists.

                Marlon Sierra also finished with 16 points while pulling down six rebounds. Trent Harris also came on strong, nailing 14 points including two 3-pointers.

                WNCC shot just 39 percent from the field, including going 6 of 19 from the 3-point arc and 18 of 28 from the free throw line.

                Lamar shot 46 percent in the first half and then heated up with 63 percent shooting in the second half to finish the game at 54 percent. Lamar was just 4 of 9 from behind the arc. The difference in the game was free throw shooting, where Lamar make 37 of 48 free throws.

WNCC (18-10)    31 45 – 76

Lamar                    33 58 – 91

WNCC

Vinnie Shahid 18, Michael Connor 2, Marlon Sierra 16, Djordje Dimitrijevic 9, Jeremy Ruffin 8, Austin Payne 4, Trent Harris 14, RJ Palmer 3, Ricards Pinne 2.