The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team battled and made runs against No. 21-ranked Seward County Community College on Thursday, but in the end the Saints went marching home with a 92-79 win.
The Cougars battled but it was the little things, especially in the first half that was the difference in the contest according to head coach Billy Engel.
"We finally found some rhythm in the second half and played hard," Engel said. "But we dug ourselves a hole because we didn't play hard, dug ourselves a hole because we didn't do the things we worked on in preparation for this game, and that is something that will be addressed going forward because some of those effort plays we did not make in the first half is why we lost this game."
The Cougars were with the rated Seward County for the first part of the first half. WNCC trailed 8-4 bug came back to tie the game at 8-8 on a Stephen Ovia old-fashioned 3-point play. Seward came back on a 9-0 run to lead 17-8, but the Cougars fought back and sliced the deficit to 21-19 on a Rodney Sawyer 3-point play.
Seward rebounded as Niko Smith hit a trey to start a 10-0 run to lead 31-19 and the Saints pushed the lead to 37-23 and led 50-32 at halftime.
The second half was a different story as WNCC outscored Seward 47-42. Engel said they played much better in the second half minus the first minute of the second half when Seward scored six quick points for a 56-32 lead.
"You have to find the positive moments and you have to find the bright spots and find things that you did well," Engle said. "You have to learn from the negatives and look at your successes. We had successes in the second half."
After Seward took the 56-32 lead, WNCC woke up and went on a 20-5 run to slice the lead to within single digits at 61-52. The Cougars came back behind two free throws, a dunk and a 3-pointer by Sawyer, along with a dunk by Carl Thorpe and a trey by Maurice Walker.
Seward responded with four quick points, but WNCC kept fighting as they cut the lead to 71-61 on back-to-back treys from CJ Johnson and Walker. Seward responded on a 8-0 run to go back up 79-61.
WNCC kept fighting as they cut the lead to 14 points, 86-74, on treys by Johnson and Walker and then cut the lead to 10 points with 90 seconds to play on buckets by Walker and Johnson. That was as close as they got.
The difference was shooting. Seward was 49 percent from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc with eight treys. The Saints also shot 90 percent from the charity stripe going 18-of-20.
WNCC was 41 percent from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc. The Cougars buried 12 3-pointers with Walker nailing five and Johnson with three. The difference in the game was free throw shooting as WNCC was 57 percent for the game at 17-of-29.
The rebounding was pretty even with Seward holding a 40-36 edge. Thorpe led the Cougars with eight boards followed by Enzo Clouvel-Urie with seven. Clouvel-Urie also had seven assists in the game.
WNCC had four players in double figures. Johnson led the way with 18 points followed by Walker with 16. Sawyer chipped in 15 while Thorpe had 10.
WNCC will be back in action next week as they head towards Utah for three games beginning with a contest Thursday at Colorado Northwestern Community College in Rangely, Colorado. They will then head to Salt Lake City, Utah, for a classic where they will face Salt Lake Community College on Friday and Taylormade Prep on Saturday.
The Cougars will then be at home on Tuesday, November 22 when they host Eastern Wyoming College in a women's and men's doubleheader.
Seward (3-0) 50 42 – 92
WNCC (1-2) 32 47 – 79
SEWARD
Jaylin Henderson 23, Ray Glasglow 5, Jaden Martin 2, Ty Foster 2, Mario Whitley 29, Niko Smith 5, David Petit 4, Daeyon James 11, Wilson Dubinsky 11.
WNCC
Rodney Sawyer 15, CJ Johnson 18, Biko Johnson 4, Carl Thorpe 10, Stephen Ovia 2, Daniel Bula 6, Enzo Clouvel-Urie 7, Maurice Walker 16, Zach O'Callaghan 1.