The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team allowed NJC a 13-0 run in the first half and then made a fighting comeback late in the game, but it wasn't enough as the Northeastern Junior College Plainsmen earned the 75-69 South Sub-region win Wednesday evening at Cougar Palace.

                The loss drops the Cougars to 6-6 on the season and 0-2 in the sub-region. WNCC will look to rebound on Friday when they travel to Lamar Community College for another South sub-region contest.

                Wednesday's game was a battle. NJC led early 14-4 but WNCC cut the lead to 14-10 on four points from Chase Thompson. That was when the Plainsmen went on a 13-0 run to lead 27-10. WNCC tried making a first-half comeback, cutting the deficit to 27-15, but NJC kept playing strong as they pushed the lead to 38-20. WNCC trailed at halftime 38-22.

                The second half saw NJC bolt to a 44-26 lead before the Cougars cut the lead to single digits at 46-39 on a Thompson bucket and one from Them Koang. The under 10-point deficit didn't last long as NJC went back up by 16 at 62-46 on a trey from Axel Henry.

                That was when the Cougars intensity picked up as they went on an 8-0 run behind four points from Agwa Nywesh to trail 62-54. After a bucket by NJC, the Cougars got to within seven at 65-58. WNCC sliced the deficit even further as Issad Solano had a free throw with 2:24 to play and the Cougars down 66-61.

                NJC added three points and led 71-63 with a minute to play. WNCC kept fighting as Thompson hit one of two free throws and Solano nailed a trey with 11.3 seconds to play to trail by four points at 71-67. WNCC pressured the inbounds play and almost had a steal but couldn't hang on to the ball. Henry hit two free throws with 8.6 seconds left to push the lead to 73-67.

                Solano nailed a two-pointer with four seconds to play, but WNCC couldn't get any closer as Dalton Kaecht nailed both charity tosses with 2.9 seconds left to seal the win.

                NJC shot 54 percent from the field and 54 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-11). WNCC was 44 percent from the field and just 18 percent from beyond the arc (4-of-22).

                WNCC was out-rebounded by the Plainsmen 36-32. Koang led the way with eight boards while Thompson had six rebounds.

                WNCC had three in double figures. Thompson and Solano each had 18 points. Thompson was 6-of-8 from the free throw line, while Solano was 7 of 10 from the field. Also hitting double figures was Nywesh with 12 points. Nywesh also had seven steals in the contest. Koang finished with nine points.

                NJC had three players in double figures. Dalton Kaecht finished with 23 points including three 3-pointers. Latrell Jones tallied 14 points for the Plainsmen followed by Henry with 21 points.

NJC        38 37 – 75

WNCC   22 47 – 69

NJC

Quincey Jewett 6, Lewis Pendleton 1, Dalton Knecht 23, Axel Henry 12, Cyler Kane-Johnson 8, Junub Chuot 2, Jared Adams 5, Rashon Adams 4, Latrell Jones 14.

WNCC

Chase Thompson 18, Tayler Johnson 4, Tyler Mack 8, Agwa Nywesh 12, Issad Solano 18, Them Koang 9.