The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team had just two in double figures but had a balanced scoring output as the Cougars captured the 75-68 Region IX South Sub-region win over Northeastern Junior College Monday night at Cougar Palace.
The win was the Cougars seventh straight and moves the Cougars to 18-8 on the season. More importantly, the Cougars are 7-1 in sub-region play which is tied with Trinidad State College for the top spot.
The Cougars will have another sub-region contest later this week when they travel to McCook Community College on Friday before hosting North Platte Community College next Tuesday.
WNCC head coach Billy Engel said his team had to battle in this game against a physical NJC squad.
"Right now NJC is by far the most physical team in our conference and we came into this game not giving up any ground and give up an inch and taking a step back physically," Engel said. "We had to match their physicality and even try to outmatch their physicality. We want to play fast and play up and down, but it came down to some big plays down low and find a way to rebound. We gave up too many offensive rebounds but we were able to grab 11 of our own. The guys really fought and battled."
Plus, a big reason for the win was the balanced scoring. Travis Easterly, Jr., led the Cougars with 16 points followed by JJ Harris with 14. After that, Elijah Burney had eight, Daniel Bula and Kayden Nation each with eight, and Anthony Simo and Willie Wilson with seven.
"We said at the beginning that this team has a lot of talent any given night and it could be anybody," Engel said. "Travis is a talented kid that has been playing for a long time, an older experienced sophomore and he keeps showing up and getting better. The last couple of games he has really played better for us. Eli is a young freshman with a lot of confidence and a lot of ability and he gave us some good minutes as well. You never know and it is nice to have some talent and have some guys step up and make plays."
The game itself was a battle from the get-go. NJC had an early 19-11 lead before WNCC came back, taking the lead at 22-21 on a Bula 3-pointer. WNCC led 31-28 after two Harris free throws, but NJC closed out the half hitting four free throws to lead 32-31 at the break.
The second half was back and forth with NJC holding a 40-39 lead. That was when WNCC got hot, going in a 17-4 run to lead 57-44 on a Simo 3-pointer. WNCC's 13-point lead was whittled away as NJC responded with a 13-2 run to trail 59-55. The game was knotted at 63-63 on a 3-pointer by NJC's Deng Diew with 5:07 to play.
The final five minutes was back and forth. With the score tied at 67-67, WNCC went up 70-67 on a bucket by Easterly, Jr., and then a technical shot by Harris with 1:21 to play. NJC cot to within 70-68 with 1:07 to play, but WNCC made clutch free throws down the stretch while holding the Plainsmen to without a bucket to claim the 75-68 win.
NJC 32 36 – 68
WNCC 31 45 – 75
NJC
Deng Diew 11, Andre Cooper, Kaamil Domingo 9, Ryan Paine 12, Elijah Thomas 9, Justin Sapoi 2, Jalen Foy 20.
WNCC
JJ Harris 14, Anthony Simo 7, Willie Wilson 7, Travis Easterly, Jr. 16, Stephen Ovia 6, Elijah Burney 9, Daniel Bula 8, Kayden Nation 8.