The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team put four players in double figures and overcame a second half deficit in rolling over Casper College 89-75 in action Monday night at Cougar Palace.
The win was WNCC's 13th on the season and third straight as they get ready to host Laramie County Community College Friday in a key South Sub-region contest.
WNCC coach Russ Beck said the key in Monday's win against Casper was taking care of the ball and making free throws.
"We played a lot smarter and like I was telling the radio guy, we took some lumps and bruises early in the season in learning how to finish games," Beck said. "I was just happy to see us execute and poise down the stretch, hitting free throws and playing some solid defense. Credit goes to the guys; we are growing up."
What really stood out in the game was how the Cougars battled back from a 57-54 second half deficit and took control of the game the final 11 minutes of the game. And, it all started with a big 8-point run that was capped off with a Michael Sparks 3-pointer to put WNCC up 62-57 with 10:10 to play.
"We took care of the ball and didn't turn it over, didn't get too hurried up, and hit free throws," Beck said. "Whether it was Tyrell [Williams] or Sparks stepping to the line, those two combined for 15 of 16 from the free throw line for the game. That was clutch."
Casper did cut the lead to three and five points on a couple occasions, but each time the Cougars had an answer. But, what really salted the game away is back-to-back dunks by Phil Fayne with two minutes to pay that put the Cougars up 81-70 and WNCC never look back after that.
"Those dunks were the nail in the coffin a little bit and took some confidence away from Casper a little bit that they could climb back into it at that point," Beck said. "Those dunks were good because we were able to eat a little bit of clock and end up with a high percentage shot with under 15 seconds on the shot clock and that is what gave us back-to-back dunks."
The First half was a tight contest with Casper jumping out to a 0-4 lead only to watch WNCC come back with a six-point run to go up 10-9. It was back and forth from there as the two teams went into the locker room tied at 37.
The second half was runs by both teams, WNCC opening with an 8-0 run and then Casper coming back to grab the 57-54 lead before WNCC went on the crucial 8-0 run.
WNCC was led in scoring by a double-double performance from Williams with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Sparks paced the team with 16 points, including nailing two 3-pointers and going 8 of 8 from the free throw line.
Phil Fayne also chipped in 15 points along with seven rebounds, while Leon Tomic had 13 points. Mason Smith pulled down 10 rebounds for the game.
A big key was shooting. WNCC was 48 percent from the field and 6 of 13 from behind the arc. Casper was 33 percent from the field and connected on 4 of 29 3-pointers. WNCC also out-rebounded Casper 53-46.
Casper was led in scoring by Gerad Davis with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds.
WNCC is hoping to carry the three-game win streak into two games this weekend – Friday against Laramie County and Saturday afternoon against Fort Berthoud Community College.
Beck said that the three straight wins is giving his team some confidence with plenty of games to play. And Friday night is a big one as they host Laramie County.
"We are motivated," he said. "We don't like our positioning of where we are at in terms of standings in the south. We felt like we given away like four games with lack of poise down the stretch. We are learning and growing and we are better and now we are going to go and take some games back from some people that we gifted them."
Casper 37 38 – 75
WNCC (13-7) 37 52 – 89
CASPER
LJ Westbrook 18, Gerad Davis 21, Deante Strickland 4, Don Jerrett 2, Warren Dix 6, Benson Osayande 4, Shea Gartand 10, Vincent Franklin 6, Chris Snyder 4.
WNCC
Daylon Harris 9, Mason Smith 4, RJ Palmer 2, Michael Sparks 16, Leon Tomic 13, Michael Connor 7, Derrick Bowers 3, Chase Mason 5, Phil Fayne 15, Tyrell Williams 15.