On Friday night, the Cougars canned 12 3-pointers, but on Tuesday, the Cougars connected on just two 3-pointers, but were 29 of 38 from the charity stripe while using a strong late first-half run to notch their 15th win of the season with an impressive 83-68 win over the Thunderbirds at Cougar Palace.
The Cougars not only flexed their muscle inside, they also received a balanced scoring attack, led by Scott Bamforth and Larry Brown with 19 points each. Bamforth also was perfect from the line, going 10 of 10.
"These last couple of days we shot really well from the three area and you are not going to win four games in a row to win a regional tournament just by shooting the threes all the time," WNCC head coach Brian Joyce said. "It is a good win because we didn't shot well [from the 3-point area], but we did the other things to get it done. Joel [Davidson] does a good job and he has had success in this league and you knew his team was going to come out and battle."
WNCC definitely had a battle on its hands against a scrappy Casper squad that wouldn't give up. Early on there were 11 lead changes and six ties and the Casper men were taking it to the Cougars, holding a 20-17 lead on a 3-pointer by Langston Banks.
The T-birds continued sizzling from beyond the arc as Marshall Kelly connected on a trey to make the score 26-21 with seven left in the opening half. Joyce said that was when the Cougars decided to buckle down.
"In the first half we gave up a couple second shots and that is what kept them in the game and got them ahead early," he said. "But I think our guys finally clamped down and once we did that, we were able to get some baskets in transition."
The Cougars finally turned up the heat another notch, going on 21-4 run to finish off the first half leading 42-30. Banforth was the big scorer during that crucial run, connecting on 5 of 5 free throws. But it was his 3-pointer, the Cougars first of the night, with 3:30 to play that pushed the Cougar lead to 33-28.
Bamforth finished off the half with an off-balanced offensive tip-in that he connected on while being fouled with five-tenths of a second left in the half.
The second half, the Cougars kept excelling as Brown was the hot-hand early, pouring in seven points including the team's last 3-pointer of the contest with two minutes gone in the half for a 52-34 lead.
WNCC kept pushing the ball and expanded the lead to their largest lead of the night of 22 points at 65-43 on a Bamforth old-fashioned 3-point play with 11 minutes left in the game.
Casper, however, kept fighting, slicing the lead to 11 points, 73-62) on a Banks 3-pointer and a bucket by Brian Ridgeway with six minutes to play.
The Cougars stopped the run as Francisco Cruz, who collected 15 points on the night, but down an offensive tip-in with 3:30 to play. From there, the Cougars connected on their free throws and played strong defense to earn the win.
Joyce said his team needs to win games like these to make them stronger going down the stretch, including the Region IX tournament in March.
"I don't think our guys let up [when Casper made a late run]," he said. "It is one of those bounces between being overly aggressive while also trying to pull the ball out on offense to work for a good shot. So, when you pull the ball out, it is hard for guys to learn to be patient. We need to get in games like this to make that happen. But, I was impressed with how our guys played, especially reducing the turnovers. Tonight we only had 12 turnovers and that was big."
The Cougars , now winners of five straight including 12 of their last 14 games, will take the show on the road for a key sub-region contest against Northeast (Neb.) Community College in Norfolk Saturday afternoon. Joyce said they need to be ready.
"It shows a lot about your team when you can go on a long road trip and Norfolk is definitely a tough place to play," he said. "The sub-region games are always important to get a road win. I think our guys will be excited to go out there.
WNCC had four players finish in double figures. Bamforth and Brown each had 19 points, but Cruz chipped in 15 points and Tarell Clark added 13 points. Cruz also pulled down seven rebounds.
Casper was led by Langston Banks with 17 points followed by Ridgeway with 11 points and Jeremy Lovelady with 10 points.
Casper 30 38 – 68
WNCC (15-4) 42 41 – 83
CASPER COLLEGE
Daniel Armah 5, Brian Ridgeway 11, Langston Banks 17, James Hayden 2, Elsworth Proter 8, Jeremy Lovelady 10, Marshall Kelly 8, Curtis Malone 4, Robert Mayes 3.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Tarell Clark 13, Daniel Smith 6, Chris Hamblin 7, Scott Bamforth 19, Francisco Cruz 15, Sedrick McBounds 2, Larry Brown 19, John Bright 2.
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