Elie Cadet scored 27 points and the No. 14 Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team scored 59 first-half points in rolling to a 99-69 win over Central Wyoming College Saturday evening at Cougar Palace.

                It was WNCC's fifth win of the year as they put five players in double figures in scoring over 90 points for the fifth time in seven games.

                The win came a day after the Cougars earned a close 93-90 win over Western Wyoming Community College. Saturday night, Cadet said his team came out focused from the start and took control of the game.

                "We played good. We played as a team. We played defense and we really locked in and we shared the ball," Cadet said. "The difference between last night [Friday] and tonight was we were more focused on defense in helping each other out. We got to the spaces and just listened to the coach."

                WNCC wasted little time in taking control of the contest, too, considering the last time these two teams played, the two squads were hooked up in a high-scoring affair where WNCC won 111-106 back on Nov. 1.

                Saturday night, WNCC's defense was a major factor in the win, holding Central Wyoming to just 16 percent shooting in the first half in rolling to a 59-19 halftime lead. The defense stayed strong in the second half as the Rustlers shot 35 percent and made just 3 of 10 treys.

                WNCC's defense was a major cog in the offense, too. WNCC shot 63 percent in the first half and 52 percent for the game in the win. Three-point shooting wasn't the best, but it was still up there. WNCC made 6 of 11 treys in the first half before settling for just one in the second half.

                Cadet was a huge factor in the win finishing with a season-high 27 points on 13-of-19 shooting from the field while grabbing five rebounds and recording two blocked shots.

                But Cadet wasn't the only player that contributed. As much as anything this win was definitely a team effort with different players hitting the scoring column. After Cadet's 27, Jervay Green finished with 19 points followed by 14 each from Bryce Sanchious and Henry Tanksley. Dru Kuxhausen chipped in 13 points.

                Martin Roub tallied nine points in the win, including hitting two long-range 3-pointers.

                Another big reason for the win was rebounding and assists. WNCC finished with 50 rebounds in the contest, but Central Wyoming had 53. Tanksley led the way against his former team with eight rebounds, while Sanchious had seven.

Both teams also fouled a lot, combining for 53 fouls. WNCC had 30 fouls, which resulted in the Rustlers going 30 of 45 from the charity stripe. WNCC was 14 of 25 from the free throw line.

                WNCC lead early 8-4 before going on a 16-0 run to lead 24-4 after two Roub 3-pointers and four points each from Sanchious and Cadet. The Cougars pushed the lead to 33-8 and hit the 50-mark in the first half at 50-17 on three straight Kuxhausen 2-point buckets. WNC led 59-19 at half.

                Any chance of a Central Wyoming comeback was erased early as WNCC led 75-42. Central did have their biggest run of 8-0 to cut the lead to 24 points, but the Cougars answered with a 7-0 to lead 82-51 to earn the win.

                WNCC, 5-2, will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Colby Community College. The two teams met earlier this month at Cougar Palace with the Cougars earning an 88-85 win.

                After Tuesday, WNCC will host the Thanksgiving Classic where four teams will be in town for the men's and women's classic. Action in the Thanksgiving Classic begins Friday when Trinidad State Junior College takes on Rainy River Community College at 3:30 p.m. followed by the Cougar men taking on Indian Hills Community College at 7:30 p.m. Men's action on Saturday has Trinidad State taking on Indian Hills at 2 p.m. and WNCC facing Rainey River at 6 p.m.      

C. Wyoming                        19 50 – 69

WNCC (5-2)                         59 40 – 99

CENTRAL WYOMING

Brady Fullerton 2, Jacob Smith 19, David Simental 8, James Woods 4, Darius Guinn 8, Jerroda Briscoe 8, Caio Rosa de Oliveira 1, Taylor Tidzump 5, Marko Pavlovic 1, Devin Rottweiler 13.

WNCC

Dru Kuxhausen 13, Bryce Sanchious 14, Bryce Haerer 1, Elie Cadet 27, Henry Tanksley 14, Jervay Green 19, Christian Creech 2, Martin Roub 9.

Western Wyoming          51 47 – 98

Williston State                   36 45 – 81

WESTERN WYOMING

Eddie Creal 23, Carter Rosette 4, Jalen Blaize 8, Trey Marble 19, Sindou Cisse 18, Obi Agu 8, Manel Ayol 14, Ryan Gundersen 4.

WILLISTON

Devale Johnson 16, Paul Macsteves 2, James Jones 21, O'Shane Taylor Douglas 4, Tyler Kinghorn 2, Amar Miller 12, Sita Conteh 3, Mychael Paulo 13, Anthony Davis 6, Isaiah Williams 2.