WNCC men fall to Casper 77-71

  CASPER, Wyo. -- The Casper men's basketball team outscored the Western Nebraska Community College men 40-32 in the second half to overcome a first-half deficit in picking up their 14th win of the season 77-71.
               The loss was the Cougars third straight and dropped their record to 9-9 on the season
               Despite the setback, the Cougars played well in the first half, holding a 39-37 lead at intermission as they shot 47 percent from the field. The second half was a different story as they Cougar men shot just 29 percent from the field. Casper, on the other hand, sizzled the nets for 48 percent for the game.
               WNCC trailed early in the game by nine points at 27-18 and later 29-23. The Cougar fought their way back as Preston Eaton and Mike Peltz were the key scorers. Eaton drained two 3-pointers in the run and Peltz had six points to give the Cougars the lead at 30-29 on their way to the 39-37 halftime lead.
               In the second half, WNCC held a 41-40 lead on a Hauns Brereton bucket and then had the game tied at 42-42. After that, though, the T-Birds took control zipping out to a 52-44 lead on a Demetrius Lee 3-pointer. WNCC cut the lead to six points late, but couldn't get much closer.
               The Cougars out-rebounded the T-Birds 40-30 as Brereton and Justin Omogun each had 10 points.
               Brereton led all scorers with 23 points, including two 3-pointers. Peltz also finished with 13 points while Preston Eaton had 11 points.
               Casper had four players in double figures, led by Brandon Walton with 19 points and four 3-pointers.
               The Cougars will look to get back on the winning track on Saturday when they host Northeast (Neb.) Community College at 3 p.m. The game will also feature at halftime the Minatare cheerleaders performing as well as the youngsters from the Cougar Dance/Cheer Camp that will be held Friday afternoon.
               Saturday's contest is also a sub-region contest with the winner of the sub-region hosting the Region IX tournament in March.

WNCC (9-9)                        39 32 -- 71
Casper (14-6)                     37 40 -- 77
CASPER
Deninson Burguillos 8, Cameron Howard 11, Brandon Walton 19, Demetrius Lee 12, Gilles Tacita 5, Tyler Larson 12, Sam Johnson 4, Cobi Eskew 6.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Mike Peltz 13, Joe Stock 8, Justin Omogun 4, Hauns Brereton 23, Raul Delgado 9, Preston Eaton 11, Aamir Kelliehan 2, Marko Kovacevic 1.