WNCC men take out Miles

GILLETTE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team received 20 points and 17 rebounds from Rodney Sawyer as the Cougar men defeated Miles Community College 80-67 in the second day of the Border Wars Invite at Gillette, Wyoming, on Saturday.

The Cougars and Miles were in a battle in the first half. Miles had their biggest lead of the game in the first half when they led by seven points with 4:23 to play in the half. The Cougars came back and tied the contest as the two teams were knotted at 34-34 after the first 20 minutes.

The second half saw WNCC outscore Miles 46-33 and had their largest lead at 13 points late in the game.

In fact, the contest was back and forth as there were six ties and nine lead changes.

    WNCC shot 36% from the field and were just 19% from beyond the arc. WNCC made five treys as Sawyer had two treys. Miles shot 44% from the field and 39% from the 3-point arc. Miles made seven 3-pointers.

WNCC out-rebounded Miles 48-36. Sawyer led the way with 17 rebounds while CJ Johnson had seven and Carl Thorpe with six boards.

The Cougars also had four blocked shots in the contest while Miles had nine blocks.

WNCC had four players in double figures led by Sawyer’s 20 points which included a 4-for-4 day at the free throw line. Stephen Ovia also had 13 points while Thorpe had 11 and Biko Johnson finished with 10.

WNCC will finish out the Border Wars Invite when they face Williston State College Sunday at 10 a.m. 

 

Miles        34 33 – 67

WNCC (5-4)    34 46 – 80

WNCC

Rodney Sawyer 20, Stephen Ovia 13, Carl Thorpe 11, Biko Johnson 10, Dimitriije Nikolic 9, Enzo Clouvel-Urie 6, CJ Johnson 6, Daniel Bula 3, Zach O’Callaghan 2.

WNCC women topple Miles

GILLETTE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team put four in double figures as the Cougars captured a 77-63 win over Miles Community College on the second day of the Border Wars Invite in Gillette, Wyoming, Saturday morning.

It was the Cougars’ fifth straight win and eighth overall as WNCC had a game of two halves.

The first half, the Cougars played well, racking up 49 points. The second half was a different story with Miles outsourcing the Cougars 31-28.

Still, the Cougars got the win behind a decent defensive effort and clutch free throws down the stretch for the win.

WNCC trailed 6-5 in the first quarter but retook the lead on two Ola Duda free throws and then a Duda bucket for a 9-6 lead. Miles trailed 14-11 when the Cougars went on a 9-0 run behind four points from Yara Garcia. WNCC led after one period 26-17.

The second quarter saw the Cougars jump out to a 36-19 lead behind four points from Duda and a 3-pointer from Jayla Owen. The Cougars went up 15, 40-25 on an Owen bucket. Miles cut the lead to 10, 40-30, but the Cougars went on a 9-0 run to lead 49-30 and led 49-32 at halftime.

The third quarter was one where WNCC went up 56-37 on an Owen trey and a Duda bucket as they led 61-46 after three periods.

WNCC was really never threatened in the fourth quarter as the Cougars led 69-50 with five minutes to play. Miles sliced the lead to 12 with 39.1 seconds to play, but it was too late as Duda closed out the scoring with a late bucket.

Duda led the way on the offense end as the freshman had 17 points with seven field goals. Owen finished with 14 points with two treys and Mackenzie Joseph had 11 points with three 3-pointers. Yara Garcia also had 10 points while Shiho Isono finished with nine points.

WNCC shot 59% from the field in the first half and were just 30% in the second half.

    WNCC buried six treys in the contest while Miles had 10.

Miles won the rebound battle 37-35 with Isono, Joseph, and Owen each getting five boards. Isono had nine assists in the win.

WNCC, 8-3, will wrap up the tourney on Sunday when they face Williston State at 11:45 a.m. before returning home for a home tournament next Friday and Saturday when they face Central Wyoming and Northwest College.

 

Miles        17 15 14 17 – 63
WNCC (8-3)    26 23 12 16 – 77
WNCC
Ola Duda 17, Jayla Owen 14, Shiho Isono 9, Bre Fowler 7, Mia Jaye Sarkodee-Adoo 4, Yara Garcia 10, Faith Walker 5, Mackenzie Joseph 11.