The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team had a rough night shooting and couldn't stop a hot-shooting Otero Junior College squad in dropping a Region IX South contest to the Rattlers 81-58 Wednesday night at Cougar Palace.
The loss drops the Cougars to 8-3 on the year. It was WNCC's first Region IX South contest.
WNCC, 8-3, will have less than 24 hours to regroup as the Cougars will face Trinidad State Junior College Thursday night at Cougar Palace. The tip off for the men is at 7:30 p.m. with the Cougar women taking on the Trinidad women at 5:30.
Wednesday's contest was a matter of shooting, where the Cougars couldn't buy a bucket. WNCC shot 26 percent in the first half and finished the game at 32 percent. WNCC's 3-point shooting was not on the mark either, connecting on just 15 percent (2 of 13). Michael Connor and Andrew Ramirez had the only 3-pointers for the Cougars.
Otero, on the other hand, shot 40 percent from the field in the first half and finished the game at 47 percent. The Rattlers connected on just 4 of 18 treys.
The big difference was rebounding where Otero outrebounded the Cougars 47-37. WNCC out-rebounded Otero on the offensive side 16-15, but were out-muscled on the defensive side 32-21.
Despite the 23-point loss, the first half was a battle and it started out as a defensive slugfest as Otero held a 19-15 lead with five minutes to play. WNCC came back to slice the lead to 26-25 on a Ramirez 3-pointer and trailed 29-27 on a Chase Mason bucket. Otero, however, scored four straight to take a 33-29 halftime lead.
The first six minutes of the second half was when Otero took charge, outscoring WNCC 17-3 to take a 50-32 lead. WNCC woke up as they cut the led to single digits at 57-48 after going on a 16-7 run behind three buckets by Daylon Harris.
WNCC couldn't get any closer as Otero buried 11 of 11 free throws in the final four minutes for the win.
WNCC had just one player in double figures as Williams had 12 points and eight rebounds. Michael Sparks finished with eight points and Phil Fayne had nine points.
Otero had five players finish in double figures, led by Jacob Holland with 18 points followed by DJ Miles with 16.
Otero 33 48 – 81
WNCC 29 29 – 58
OTERO
DJ Miles 16, Jacob Holland 18, Brandon Book 5, Vince Logan McCormick 5, Vince Holmes 4, Darius Polley 10, Chuck Gavin 10, Austin Hall 12, Brandon Wilson 6.
WNCC
Daylon Harris 6, Mason Smith 2, Michael Sparks 8, Leon Tomic 6, Michael Connor 4, Derrick Bowers 4, Chase Mason 4, Andrew Ramirez 3, Phil Fayne 9, Tyrell Williams 12.