The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team used a 16-0 run in the first half to help them propel past Western Wyoming Community College 91-79 Wednesday night at Cougar Palace.

                The win moves the Cougars to 10-7 on the year with their third-straight victory.

                WNCC coach Billy Engel said they had some key plays where they didn't let Western Wyoming get no more than a 5-point run.

                "It is great when we can string together points and get some stops," Engel said. "We can score on multiple possessions in a row, but if you are trading baskets you won't extend the lead so we do things in practice where we can score in three straight possessions and get a stop in three straight possessions. So, to put a run on somebody, you have to do that multiple of times. It is good to see the guys to go on a run like that."

                The first half saw Western Wyoming lead 11-9 when Stephen Ovia hit a bucket and Kayden Nation buried a trey to put the Cougars up 14-11. Western Wyoming cut the deficit to 27-22 and that was where the Cougars would rattle off 16 straight including back-to-back buckets by Willie Wilson and 3-pointers by Nation and JJ Harris to lead 43-22. WNCC led 47-26 at one point before Western Wyoming scored the final four points of the half to give the Cougars a 47-30 halftime lead.

                The second half saw Western Wyoming outscore the Cougars 49-44, but WNCC only let the Mustangs get a 5-0 run and that was it. The Cougars stayed tough in the second half and led 70-54 on a Wilson bucket.

                WNCC went up 78-60 on two free throws by Ovia and a Maurice Walker 3-pointer. The Mustangs went on a 6-0 run to come within 12 at 78-66 with 4:54 to play. It was only a brief comeback as WNCC answered with a 7-2 run that saw Ovia hit a bucket and capped it with a Travis Easterly, Jr., triple for an 85-68 lead.

                Western Wyoming scored four straight only to watch WNCC score four straight. WNCC led 91-74 on an Ovia bucket and never looked back.

                WNCC shot 49 percent from the field and made nine 3-pointers, while Western Wyoming shot 43 percent and made seven triples.

                WNCC had four players in double figures. Wilson and Nation each had 22 points. Nation had five 3-pointers. Ovia chipped in 18 points with six rebounds, while JJ Harris had 13 points, all in the first half.

                Western Wyoming had three in double digits, led by Eddie McPhee with 23 points and four 3-pointers.

                WNCC will be back in action Monday when they travel to Lamar Community College for a South Sub-region contest. The Cougars will then have home sub-region contests on Friday and Saturday against Trinidad State and Otero College.

                "We want to open up and start conference play the right way," Engel said. "We need to get rested and get guys back and healing up some bumps and bruises and get the roster back together will be very important for us. With that flagrant foul, we might be going down there without Kayden Nation, but the next man up and we have to find a way to win."

W. Wyoming      30 49 – 79
WNCC (10-7)    47 44 – 91
WESTERN WYOMING
Chok Garang 8, Trevon Chambers 4, Amari Westermoreland-Vendiola 4, Christian Adun 13, Kasen Boggs 8, Jackson Keil 10, Eddie McPhee 23, Micah Pierce 9.
WNCC
JJ Harris 13, Maurice Walker 5, Willie Wilson 22, Travis Easterly, Jr. 7, Stephen Ovia 18, Elijah Burney 4, Kayden Nation 22.