CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team had a rough day shooting in the first half and that shooting woes resulted in Laramie County Community College taking a 35-18 halftime lead and holding on to the 77-59 win in action Monday at Storey Gymnasium in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
WNCC and LCCC were neck-and-neck for the first 13 minutes of the contest. LCCC scored the first five points, but WNCC come back to get to within 8-6 on a Stephen Ovia bucket. LCCC went up 16-8 and that was when WNCC had their largest run of seven points behind three points from Carl Thorpe and a 3-pointer by Enzo Urie-Clouvel to cut the deficit to one, 16-15 with 7:13 to play in the half.
After that, LCCC picked up the pace as they went on a 7-0 run to lead 23-15 and outscored the Cougars 19-3 in the final seven minutes for the 35-18 halftime lead.
The second half saw the team play equal as LCCC barely outscored the Cougars for the 20 minutes 42-41. The different was that once the Golden Eagles got a 20-point lead, they kept the lead around that margin.
WNCC did get to within 17 with about 10 minutes to play at 49-32 on a Maurice Walker 3-pointer and an Ahmari Samuel two free throws. WNCC was within 15 points, 55-49 after back-to-back bucket by Ovia, but the Golden Eagles held the Cougars from getting any closer for the win.
Field goal and free throw shooting was the difference in the game. WNCC was just 14 percent from the field in the first half from the field while heating up for 47 percent in the second half. WNCC made just 4-of-18 shots from the 3-point arc.
LCCC shot 31 percent from the field in the first half and 36 percent overall. The Golden Eagles made just 6-of-28 from beyond the arc and were nearly perfect from the charity stripe at 28-of-31.
The game featured 51 fouls and 81 free throw attempts combined.
Rebounding was close as LCCC just edged the Cougars 48-46. WNCC led on the glass by Samuel with nine boards followed by Biko Johnson with six.
WNCC had two in double figures with Ovia collecting 14 while Samuel had 11. Thorpe tallied nine while Walker had eight.
WNCC moves to 12-10 on the season will have two important South Sub-region games at home this weekend when they entertain the two top teams in the South Sub-region. WNCC will face Otero College on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and then Trinidad State on Saturday at 4 p.m. Trinidad State leads Region IX with a 6-0 record while Otero is second with a 4-2 mark. The Cougars are 3-2 in conference play and sitting in third place. Friday's home game is Alumni Night at Cougar Palace
WNCC (12-10) 18 41 – 59
LCCC (13-8) 35 42 – 77
WNCC
Carl Thorpe 9, CJ Johnson 2, Daniel Bula 2, Enzo Urie-Clouvel 3, Biko Johnson 5, Ahmari Samuel 11, Stephen Ovia 14, Maurice Walker 8, Tristin Thomas 5.
LCCC
Jayden McCray 2, Brandon Tchouya 11, Ben Hageman 4, Xavier McCord 15, Jordan Reed 17, Tristan Starks 10, James Munlyn 4, Pedro Ellery 9, Jackson Jones 5.