GLENDIVE, Mont. – Mason Smith hit a 3-point play with less than a second to play and the Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team topped Dawson Community College 78-77 Saturday in Glendive, Montana.
The Cougars, who notched their 12th win of the season, led just three times all night and trailed by as much as 16 to the Buccaneers. But the Cougars sank eight, clutch 3-pointers to get the win.
"This was a tough game. We found ourselves down 16 on some hot shooting by Dawson," head coach Russ Beck said. "We were struggling to string together stops when we decided to try something different and put a lineup of Michael Connor, Chase Mason, Michael New, Derrick Bowers, and Phil Fayne on the floor which resulted in seven consecutive defensive stops. Give them credit, they got us back in the ball game with their defense."
WNCC never could te a run going until late in the second half. Trailing 66-54, that was when the Cougars stepped up their game, tying the game at 70-70 on a Mason trey with 3:51 to play. From that point, WNCC was playing well, grabbing a 75-72 lead with 1:16 to play.
Dawson, however, also kept battling, scoring five straight and holding a 77-75 lead with 5.5 seconds left. That was when Beck called a timeout and set up the go-ahead bucket.
""We missed a driving layup with seven seconds left in the game and were forced to foul," he said. "So with five second left, they go one and two from the free throw line which set up the finish.
"We drew something up during a time out and made a long pass to half court to Mason Smith, who drove the lane and with multiply defenders hanging on him, Mason gets the ball over them and the ball hung on the rim and went in and the whistle blew. Mason then went to the free throw line with .8 seconds left and hit the free throw. Phil Fayne deflected the inbound pass and we snuck away with the win."
It definitely was a dramatic finish, too. Both teams were knocking down 3-pointers, combining for 20 on the night. Dawson finished with 12 treys, led by four from Gavin McPherson and three from Christian Kappal.
WNCC was just a hot from beyond the arc, nailing eight treys on 44 percent shooting. Michael Connor buried three 3-pointers, while Michael Sparks had two.
WNCC shot decent from the field at 48 percent. The Cougars also had four players finish in double figures and nine players score overall.
Fayne led the team with a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds. Smith also had 12 points with a trey. Smith had just one free throw attempt, the game winner.
Also netting double figures was Connor with 11 points while Sparks nailed 10 points. Derrick Bowers also came on strong late in the second half, finishing with eight points followed by Mason with seven points.
Dawson had five players in double figures, led by 14 points each from McPherson and Evan Jones.
WNCC, 12-7, will have little time to rest as they host Casper College on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
WNCC (12-7) 37 41 – 78
Dawson 42 35 – 77
WNCC
Daylon Harris 4, Mason Smith 12, RJ Palmer 5, Michael Sparks 10, Michael Connor 11, Derrick Bowers 8, Chase Mason 7, Phil Fayne 15, Tyrell Williams 6.
DAWSON
Brendon Chevannes 10, Josh Stickel 5, Christian Kappel 13, Gavin McPerson 14, Evan Jones 14, Kade Osborne 3, Daniel Shedden 13, Stefan Stubbs 2, Jomarri Gable 3.