The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball tam 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.

WNCC women fall to NJC 77-67

                The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team battled but in the long run, dropped a 77-67 Region IX South Sub-region contest to Northeastern Junior College Monday evening at Cougar Palace.

                The loss drops the Cougars to 20-5 on the season but more importantly to 4-3 in conference play. It was the Cougar’s third straight defeat. NJC moves to 25-3 on the season and is in the driver’s seat to win the south sub-region with their 7-1 record. Otero is second in conference play at 6-2.

                WNCC will look to right the ship when they travel to McCook Community College on Friday night in a key conference action in hopes of staying in the top three of the conference standings.

                Monday’s contest saw NJC score the first nine points for a 9-0 lead. WNCC didn’t get on the scoreboard until Laura Montiel buried a 3-pointer with 5:55 to play. NJC led 11-3 before the Cougars ran off nine straight themselves on two steals and buckets by Monteil and Amiyah Donaldson. Faith Walker hit a bucket with 2:16 left in the opening quarter for their first, and only, lead of the night at 12-11. NJC led 18-16 after the first 10 minutes.

                The Plainswomen pushed the lead to double digits at 30-20 on a triple by Bianca Bindzus and went on to lead at halftime 37-28.

                The Cougars started the third quarter just like the first slow. NJC scored the first six points to lead 43-28. WNCC finally scored with 6:01 left in the third on a Mackensie Joseph bucket. NJC led 48-32 on another Bindzus 3-pointer. WNCC didn’t quit as they scored the next eight points on an old-fashioned 3-point play from Walker and a 3-pointer by Gal-La Font. Adelina Urtane then hit a bucket to close to within eight, 48-40. NJC answered with five straight, including a trey from Seneya Martinez for a 53-40 lead. Font closed out the third with a bucket and a 53-42 NJC lead.

                WNCC outscored NJC 25-24 in the fourth quarter and, again, kept battling. WNCC cut the deficit to single digits on back-to-back 3-pointers from Urtane and Helena Kuck to make it 56-48. A mini 7-point run sent the score back to 15 at 63-48.

                WNCC trailed 74-58 when they exploded on a 9-0 run on buckets by Keyle Cervantes and Ebere Egbirika to make it a 74-67 game, but it wasn’t enough as NJC got the 77-67 win.

                Urtane was the only Cougar in double figures with 19 points. Donaldson and Walker each finished with nine points while Joseph had seven.

                WNCC was out-rebounded in the contest 44-39.

                The difference in the game was shooting as WNCC shot just 33 percent from the field and were 7-of-32 from beyond the arc. NJC shot 49 percent and were 9-of-18 from the 3-point line. WNCC held the free throw advantage, making 12-of-14, while NJC was a perfect 6-of-6.

NJC                       18 19 16 24 – 77

WNCC                 16 12 14 25 – 67

NJC

Alexandra Westerdijk 6, Genesis Sweetwine 7, Seneya Martinez 11, Jailyn Potts 2, Ruby Sweeney-Spitzeck 15, Bianca Bindzus 17, A’Mya Winfrey 15, Erin Williams 4.

WNCC

Amiyah Donaldson 9, Ebere Egbirika 5, Keyla Cervantes 2, Helena Kuck 3, Gal-La Font 6, Laura Montiel 5, Faith Walker 9, Kiley Smich 2, Mackenzie Joseph 7, Adelina Urtane 19.