GOODLAND, Kan. – The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team won Saturday in a game that will be remembered for a long time as the Cougars came back from a 9-point deficit with 25 seconds left in regulation to capture a thrilling 99-95 double overtime win over Northwest Kansas Technical College in the final day of the NT Classic in Goodland, Kansas.
Head coach Billy Engel said he has never been part of a game where a team won in the manner that his team won.
"We did not play up to our potential for the first 38 minutes and 30 seconds of the game," Engel said. "We were a step slow and were playing from behind all game long. The last 1 minute and 30 seconds of regulation and both overtimes was some of the toughest I've ever seen a team battle. I'm very proud of our guys to stick together and find a way to pull out that win."
What Engel is talking about is the Cougars were down by nine points, 75-66 with 25 seconds to play. It was how the team scored nine points to force overtime that is remarkable. WNCC's never-die attitude was what won Saturday and it helped the Cougars to win both games this weekend at the NT Classic.
"We obviously played well enough to win both games, but this weekend said more about our mentality as a team than anything," he said. "We were able to be mentally tough enough to bounce back after two early losses that we could've come away with, and beat two tough Jayhawk teams this weekend."
Saturday's win was one that saw the Cougars trail Northwest 35-31 at halftime and never led in the second half. In fact, the Cougars were on the brink of defeat when the Mavericks went up 75-66 on an old-fashioned 3-point play with 25 seconds to play.
That was when someone was looking down on them as the Cougars had a perfect last 25 seconds of the game of the century to force overtime.
It all started as Travis Easterly, Jr., nailed a shot with 17 seconds to play. WNCC then got a quick turnover and Stephen Ovia scored to make it 75-70. WNCC played tough defense and got another quick turnover where JJ Harris missed a 3-point shot, but Daniel Bula got the rebound and buried a trey to make it 75-73 with 12 seconds to play.
WNCC then fouled Northwest's Taiden Conner with three seconds to play and instead of icing the game, the Maverick made just one of two free throws for the 76-73 lead with three seconds to play. WNCC inbounded the ball and Easterly, Jr., attempted a 3-point shot with no time on the clock but was fouled in the process. Easterly calmly hit all three free throws to force overtime tied at 76.
The overtime period saw Northwest Kansas go up 84-79 and later led 86-83. Maurice Walker tied the contest at 86 after he hit a 3-pointer. It was short-lived as Northwest Kansas nailed a bucket to lead 88-86. After three missed 3-pointers, Kayden Nation put the Cougars on top at 89-88 with a 3-pointer.
Northwest missed a couple of times with just over a minute to play but was fouled and Emarquis Jones made just one of two free throws to tied the contest at 89. WNCC came back down and Harris made a layup with 45 seconds left for the Cougar lead. Neither team scored for nearly a minute. With two seconds left, Northwest's Keither Florence was fouled and made both free throws to tie the game. Northwest had a last-second shot to win the game and missed a jump shot as time expired to force a second overtime.
WNCC kept playing well in the second overtime as Walker made an early layup and then after a minute of no one scored, Walker sank two free throws for a 95-91 lead. The Cougars kept playing strong defense as they led 97-93 on two Nazir Griffin free throws with 13 seconds to play. Northwest cut the deficit to 97-95 with five seconds and immediately fouled Griffin who sank both free throws for the 99-95 lead and the win.
WNCC shot just 36 percent for the game and buried just 10 3-pointers. Northwest shot 41 percent from the field but only made one 3-pointer. Northwest was also 32-of-48 from the free throw line to WNCC's 25-of-39.
WNCC had five players in double figures. Walker led the team with 23 points including five 3-pointers while Griffin tallied 21 points including going 12-of-15 from the charity stripe. WHCC also got 12 points from Bula followed by 10 points each from Harris and Ovia.
WNCC, 2-2, will be back in action this weekend when they travel with the women's team for a classic in Powell, Wyoming, where they will face Northwest College on Friday and Central Wyoming College on Saturday.
WNCC (2-2) 31 45 15 8 – 99
NWKTC (2-2) 35 41 15 4 – 95
WNCC
JJ Harris 10, Maurice Walker 23, Travis Easterly, Jr. 7, Stephen Ovia 10, Daniel Bula 12, Anthony Simo 6, Nazir Griffin 21, Willie Wilson 5, Kayden Nation 5.
NORTHWEST KANSAS TECHNICAL
Keyishon Miller 15, Emarquis Jones 17, Taiden Conner 10, Keither Florence 14, Arthur Celestin 18, Charles Fofanah 6, Amar Lane 13, Dylan Holt 2.