SHERIDAN, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team used a strong second half in rolling to an 84-72 win over Sheridan College Tuesday night in Sheridan, Wyoming.
WNCC trailed 33-24 at halftime and then opened the second half on a 17-0 run to grab a 41-33 lead and never relinquished the lead again in posting their second win of the season.
WNCC head coach Cory Fehringer said this was a good win on the road against the defending Region IX champs.
"We are thankful to get our first true road win," he said. "There is more room to grow then we can even see. This group will have to continue learning how to win and what creates a loss.
"Lack of experience is forcing us to grow through making mistakes and the coaches have to be better at coaching in order to help our young student athletes."
The play difference in the two halves was definitely the difference for the Cougars. In the first half, WNCC shot 32 percent and made just 2 of 14 treys. The second half saw the Cougars shot 51 percent and were a blistering 7 of 12 from beyond the arc.
The Cougars also played strong defense in limiting the Generals to 24 shooting in the first half and 29 percent in the second half.
WNCC had a variety of players in double figures with five players hitting double digits. Jordan Smith led the way with 18 points, burying four 3-pointers. Teddy Allen was right behind with 17 points followed 16 from Sami Harun. Harun also had four treys.
The Cougars also received 14 points from Kenny Strawbridge and 13 from James Felton. Strawbridge led the way on the boards with seven
Smith also led the team with seven assists while also pulling down six rebounds.
WNCC, 2-1, will be back in action this weekend with games at Salt Lake City. WNCC will face College of Southern Idaho on Friday before taking on Salt Lake Community College on Saturday.
WNCC (2-1) 24 60 – 84
Sheridan (2-1) 33 39 – 72
WNCC
Jarred Rosser 6, Sami Harun 16, Kenny Strawbridge 14, Elie Cadet 8, Teddy Allen 17, Jordan Smith 18, James Felton 13.
SHERIDAN
Sbdul Shanunu 2, Hayden Peterson 3, JoVon McClanahan 21, Brett Thompson 23, Marcus Stephens 21, Tristen Bower 3.