TWIN FALLS, Idaho – The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team held No. 10 College of Southern Idaho to just 30 second-half points in registering a win over the Golden Eagles 92-87 in the first day of the Fisher Tech Invitational at Twin Falls, Idaho.

                The Cougars, in picking up their second win of the season, put five players in double figures. Djodje Dimitrijevic and Vinnie Shahid each tallied 21 points for the Cougars.

                Shahid also pulled down seven rebounds, dished off six assists, and went 11-of-13 from the free throw line. Dimitrijevic finished with three 3-pointers along with Trent Harris and Martin Roub.

                WNCC head coach Cory Fehringer said the defense played well in the second half.

                "We held them to 30 points in the second half and 34 percent shooting," he said. "The first half there was no sign of defense. We came out at half and seemed to wake up. They remembered what it takes to defend and rebound."

                Fehringer said this team has a lot of offense, but when they can play defense, this team can be unstoppable.

                "This team is offensively put together, but if they decide to rebound as a unit and play defense, they will be difficult to beat," he said. "But it is too early in the season to be excited by a win. We have to continue to come together."

                What a difference the two halves made, too. Just a week ago, CSI topped the Cougars 106-98 in Williston, North Dakota.

                Friday's contest saw CSI hold a 57-47 lead at intermission. The Golden Eagles even had a 60-47 lead to start the second half.

                That was when WNCC turned the entire game around, going on a 13-0 run to tie the game at 60-60 on a Roub 3-pointer. WNCC pushed the lead to 78-71 after an 9-0 run and a bucket by Dimitrijevic bucket.

                CSI came back to knot the score at 79 and the game stayed tight. CSI came back to take an 86-85 lead with 1:35 to play. WNCC followed with a bucket by Jervay Green for an 87-86 lead. After a missed bucket, two free throws with 20 seconds to play made it 89-86. Green later hit one of two free throws with 10 second to play to make it 90-87 before two late free throws gave the Cougars the five-point win.

                WNCC will be back in action Saturday when they take on Salt Lake Community College in the second day of the Classic. No. 17 Salt Lake was an 111-72 win over Casper College on Friday.    

WNCC (2-1)         47 45 – 92

CSI                          57 30 – 87

WNCC

Marlon Sierra 9, Jervay Green 15, Djodje Dimitrijevic 21, Martin Roub 11, Vinnie Shahid 21, Marko Rajanovic 4, Trent Harris 11.

CSI

Roche Grottfaam 6, Danye Kingsby 14, Khaid Thomas 13, Jake Hendricks 14, Charles Jones 23, Roberto Gittens 8, Nic Aquirre 4, Malik Porter 2, Keegan Hanson 3.