The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team received a double-double from Carl Thorpe with 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Cougars came back to earn a 77-72 South Sub-region win over Otero College Friday night at Cougar Palace.

                The Cougars also received a big performance from sophomore Biko Johnson who poured in 23 points while going 9-of-14 from the free throw line.

                WNCC head coach Billy Engel said it was a gutsy performance from his team to get the win, which moved them to 13-10 overall and 4-2 in the South Sub-region.

                "I am incredibly proud of our effort today," Engel said. "We talked about that our guys are all in and they always have a chance. You can't be one foot in and one foot out, you got to be all in. The way we played together in Otero, not only did we play well, but we were all in. It was just a two possession game and all the conference games will be close and two possession games."

                The Cougar men trailed 36-31 at halftime and then outscored Otero 46-36 in the second half behind a double-double from Carl Thorpe of 20 points and 10 rebounds to win the sub-region contest 77-72.

                The first half of the men's contest was not a well-played half by both teams as neither team could hit enough shots especially from behind the arc as the two teams combined for just three in the first half.

                Shooting picked up considerably for WNCC in the second half as they shot 56 percent and the Cougars defense held Otero to just 36 percent shooting.

                Otero led 36-31 at halftime after scoring the final five points of the half.

                The Rattlers opened the second half with four straight to lead 40-31 and led 44-38. That was when WNCC turned things around as they went on a 10-0 run to take a 48-44 lead behind seven straight points from Biko Johnson and a 3-pointer by Daniel Bula.

                Otero came back to tie it at 48, but the Cougars stayed strong as they went up 57-50 on a bucket by Enzo Clouvel-Urie and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Thorpe. WNCC led 68-60 with four minutes to play on a Thorpe bucket, but Otero came back as they tied the game at 71-71 with a minute to play. Johnson came back and hit a bucket for WNCC for a 73-71 lead. Otero missed a shot and WNCC got the rebound with 11.5 seconds to play. Maurice Walker hit just one of two free throws for a 74-71 lead.

                Otero missed another shot and Bula gathered the rebound and fouled. Bula made one of two shots with 8 seconds to play. WNCC would win 77-72 as Johnson sealed the win with two free throws with 3.6 seconds.

                Johnson and Thorpe led the Cougars with 23 and 20 points. Walker also finished with 10 points.

                The Cougar men will face Trinidad State at 4 p.m. at Cougar Palace in a sub-region contest. Trinidad is leading the sub-region with a 7-0 mark while WNCC moves to 4-2 and is in second place. Otero drops to 4-4 in the conference.

Otero                    36 36 – 72

WNCC                   31 46 – 77

OTERO
Isaiah Piondexter 2, Kyrie Thomas 4, Ikechi Chantilou 20, LaSon Walker 12, Courtney White 7, Samuel Swolfs 8, Micah McLaurin 6, Keylane Lasisi 6, Sebastian Cole 7.
WNCC

CJ Johnson 2, Biko Johnson 23, Carl Thorpe 20, Stephen Ovia 4, Daniel Bula 9, Enzo Clouvel-Urie 2, Maurice Walker 10, Zach O'Callaghan 7.