WNCC men register 1-point win over NJC on the road

STERLING, Colo. – Hauns Brereton got a block and rebound with five seconds to play to help the Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team earn a thrilling 69-68 win over the Northeastern Junior College Plainsmen.
                The win pushed the Cougar men’s record to 11-10, but more importantly, the men’s team picked up the signature win in a tough environment.
                WNCC coach Russ Beck said this is a monumental win for the team, but it is just one win in several more the team is trying to pick up.
                “NJC is a hard place to play. They have the leading scorer in the country, so it was a big road win for us,” he said. “The kids are happy, but it is just one win. We want to host the tournament so we are going to take these sub-region games against North Platte, McCook and Northeast down the stretch.”

What won the game for the Cougars was their defensive tenacity. WNCC out-rebounded the Plainsmen 48-39, and they held one of the nation’s top scorers in Widget Washington to just 22 pionts on 8 of 19 shooting.

“Defensively, we hunkered down and got stops,” Beck said. “I am starting to have a little bit more confidence as the coach of this team with our man-to-man defense. We are doing a better job of keeping the ball out of the middle of the floor, which is key for us. We hung in there. They made a couple of runs and we responded.”

WNCC held a 12-9 lead early in the first half before the Plainsmen went up 18-12 and later 33-24. WNCC kept fighting cutting the lead to 38-34 on a Brereton bucket. Moments later, Brereton hit the biggest bucket of the night as he drained a 3-pointer as the halftime buzzer went off to pull the Cougars to within 40-37.

WNCC came out in the second half n plenty of energy, taking a 44-43 lead behind a bucket by Mike Peltz and two buckets by Marko Kovacevic. NJC came back to take a 54-48 lead on a Austin Maag 3-pointer.

The Cougar men battled back to cut the lead to one point on several occasions, including 64-63 on a Justin Standley bucket with three minutes to play. NJC went back up 66-63 before WNCC took their the lead with 2:27 to play on a Brereton driving bucket and two free throws by Joe Stock at 67-66.

Brereton put the Cougars up 69-66 with two free throws with 57 seconds to play. Washington then hit two free throws with 47.9 seconds to play to slice the lead to a single digit. NJC then had a chance to win the game on a last second shot, but Brereton came up with the block and rebound and threw the ball down the court to preserve the win.

Brereton led all scorers with 23 points. The sophomore also pulled down 10 rebounds and was 10 of 13 from the free throw line. Three other Cougars finished with seven points each including Kovacevic, Joe Stock and Justin Standley.

WNCC, 11-10, will look for there third straight win on Tuesday when they host North Platte Community College in a sub-region contest beginning at 7:30 p.m.

“We want to keep the magic, keep the hope alive a little bit,” Beck said. “Hopefully, we can get another win against North Platte.”

WNCC                   37 32 -- 69           
NJC                        40 28 --- 68
NORTHEASTERN JUNIOR COLLEGE
Ray Riley 7, Kameron Pearce 16, Melvin Washington 4, Widgett Washington 22, BJ Dundar 7, Tyrell Williams 6, James Stukes 1, Austin Maag 5.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Brady Mason 2, Mike Peltz 2, Preston Eaton 2, Justin Standley 7, Joe Stock7, Stephen Shepherd 5, Hauns Brereton 23, Raul Delgado 6, Aamir Kelliehan 2, Aaron Turner 6, Marko Kovacevic 7.