TORRINGTON, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team received 20 points from Kayden Nation along with a strong second half to power past Eastern Wyoming College 88-73 Monday evening at Torrington, Wyoming.
Nation, who had four 3-pointers in the win, said it was a big win for the Cougars in their first game of 2024. Nation said the second half play was critical for the Cougar's win, where they overcome a 35-35 halftime score and outscored the Lancers 53-38 for their ninth win of the season.
"We went into halftime knowing we made a lot of mistakes and we knew we had to come out with more intensity and attack the rim more, and get our players open," the freshman from Peoria, Illinois, said. "That is what we did and we hit open shots."
The Cougars shared the ball well in that second half as they were finding the open guys as the Cougars only trailed once in the second half.
"We definitely found the open man and made shots. That is the big thing is we made shots and made plays when we had to," Nation said. "That is what led us to the win."
The contest wasn't easy, though, as the Lancers fought back from deficits to make it close, but the Cougars had answers to all of the Lancers runs especially in the second half. It was also the Cougars' first game back from the break and Nation said it was a good win and now they have to keep it going.
"We have one day of preparation and we have to get back to it," Nation said. "We dropped a 15-point lead to Western Wyoming in our game during the first semester and we are looking to get the get-back. We are looking to play hard and play with intensity to get the win."
Monday's contest was a dogfight in the first half as WNCC led 12-4 early on back-to-back buckets by Maurice Walker. EWC came back by nailing back-to-back 3-pointers and then tied the game at 14-14 on another 3-pointer. WNCC retook the lead on a JJ Harris trey.
The Lancers kept fighting as they took the lead at 21-19 on a 3-pointer and led 27-21 on two more 3-pointers. WNCC came back with an 8-0 run on treys from Harris and Walker to lead 29-27. EWC went back in front at 31-29 on a Jules Teboul bucket and led 33-31 on two Julius Crosby free throws. WNCC regained the lead on a Stephen Ovia bucket and then a Daniel Bula field goal, but the Lancers tied the game at halftime off a steal sending both teams into the locker room knotted at 35.
EWC scored the first bucket of the second half on a Makhiah Tarver bucket, but WNCC scored 11 straight on 3-pointers by Nation, Walker, and Bula for a 46-37 lead. EWC cut the deficit to four, 46-42, but Nation buried back-to-back treys for a 52-42 lead. WNCC went up by 15 at 64-49 on a Nazir Griffin bucket.
The Lancers never got the deficit back to single digits as the Cougars went up 79-63 on a Nation bucket and never looked back to get the win.
Nation led the Cougars with 20 points followed by Anthony Simo with 16, Walker with 15, Wilson with 11, and Harris with 10.
WNCC buried 14 3-pointers in the win with Walker getting five and Nation burying four.
Harris led the way from the boards with 10 rebounds along with seven assists.
EWC was led by Micah Glover with 20 points followed by Crosby with 19 and Teboul with 16.
WNCC will be back in action Wednesday when they host Western Wyoming Community College at 6 p.m. The Cougars will then get into South Sub-region action when they travel to Lamar Community College on Monday.
WNCC (9-7) 35 53 – 88
EWC (3-13) 35 38 – 73
WNCC
JJ Harris 10, Maurice Walker 15, Anthony Simo 16, Nazir Griffin 2, Willie Wilson 11, Travis Easterly, Jr. 1, Stephen Ovia 6, Daniel Bula 7, Kayden Nation 20.
EWC
Micah Glover 20, Henos Fitwi 2, Julius Crosby 19, Ryan Aye 8, Khayree Rashed 3, Rodrigo Sanchez 1, Makhiah Tarver 2, Jules Teboul 16