GILLETTE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team put on a offensive show Friday at the Holiday inn Express Classic in Gillette, Wyoming.

                The Cougars put seven in double figures led by Reece Randolph's 38 points including seven 3-pointers in routing the Little Big Horn Rams on the second day of the Classic.

                The win moves the Cougars to 4-7 on the season. WNCC will wrap up the classic Saturday morning at 10:45 a.m. when they face Miles Community College. WNCC will then wrap up the first semester on Tuesday when they host Casper College.

                The Cougars' scoring put the team high in the record books at the second most points scored in a game and a half. WNCC's 147 points is second behind the 161 points scored in the 2010 season. WNCC's 78 first-half points is also second, just four points from the record of 82 points scored in 2010.

                WNCC shot 55.7 percent from the field and were 40 percent from beyond the arc. The Cougars buried 20 3-pointers, which is tied for third in the record book. The record is 22 3-pointers set against Eastern Wyoming (2017) and North Platte (2018).

                Seven different Cougars buried a 3-pointer in the contest. Randolph had seven treys while Toms Linis and Caleb Swisher each had three treys apiece.

                WNCC also controlled the boards, pulling down 54 rebounds, led by Linis with eight and six each from Swisher, Randolph, Noah Jones, and Kendrick Preston.

                The Cougars also dished off 30 assists and had 23 steals. Isaiah St. Preux had six assists followed by Randolph with five. Randolph also had four steals.

                Scoring was the big thing for the Cougars with seven in double figures. Randolph's 38 points is the most by a Cougar since 2020 when Teddy Allen scored 45 points against Casper at regionals.

                Also scoring in double figures saw St. Preux net 24 points followed by Elijah Hollins with 17, Preston with 15, 12 from Linis, 11 from Jones, and 10 from Elijah Burney.

                The contest was close for the first two minutes as the Cougars held a slim 4-2 lead. After that, the Cougars scored eight straight points to lead 12-2 on a Linis 3-pointer. WNCC led 39-15 after Hollins scored 10 straight points and led 44-19 on a Burney bucket.

                The Cougars had a 25-point lead, 49-24, and that was when WNCC scored 14 straight and went on a 22-3 run to lead 71-27. The Cougars led 78-33 at halftime.

                The second half saw WNCC run to a 93-40 lead before Little Big Horn mounted a comeback with seven straight. It was just a short run as WNCC hit the century mark on two free throws by Burney. WNCC had another big run just after the midway part of the second half when they went on a 20-0 run on two treys by Swisher and cruised to the 147-68 win.

WNCC (4-7)                    78 69 – 147
Little Big Horn                33 35 – 68
WNCC
Reece Randolph 38, Kellon Harris 7, Elijah Hollins 17, Toms Linis 12, Noah Jones 11, Isaiah St. Preux 24, Caleb Swisher 9, Mathiang Maker 4, Elijah Burney 10, Kendrick Preston 15.
LITTLE BIG HORN
Zane Plainfeather 30, Donovan Plainbull 5, Stoney ElkShoulder 14, Konelly Shane 12, Daivyn White 3, Tyrell Little Light 4.