Delgado breaks school 3-point record with 12 in 138-62 win over Little Big Horn

                  Western Nebraska Community College’s Raul Delgado set a new school record with 12 3-pointers and the Cougars shot 63.5 percent from the field in running past Little Big Horn College 138-62 in the second day of the Cougar Classic Saturday evening.

Delgado nailed seven treys in the first half and connected on five more in the second half to break the 15-year record that was previous led by Scottsbluff graduate Rick Kinner. Kinner sank 11 treys in a game on Jan. 24, 1996, against Air Force Prep.

Delgado’s record-setting performance Saturday night came a day after the 6-foot-2 sophomore set career highs of 35 points and six 3-pointers in a contest Friday against Oglala Lakota. Saturday night, Delgado set career highs once again in both categories.

Delgado not only broke the school record for most threes in a game, but his 45 points came within five points of breaking the single-game scoring record of 49 points that is held by Billy Stewart in 1965 (against Sheridan College) and Eric Gore in 1990 (against San Jacinto, Texas). Delgado netted his 45 points on 15 of 29 shooting from the field including a 12 of 23 performance from beyond the arc.

Delgado’s 45 points ranks him tied for fourth on the all-time single game scoring charts with Cal Graham. Graham scored 45 points in a game against Northwest Wyoming back in 1963-64 season. Bernard Garner sets in third in the scoring charts with a 47-point performance back in 1994.

                “He was feeling it tonight, but give credit to his teammates to seeing that he was feeling it and finding him. This team does a good job of playing hard for each other and the bench is pretty lively. We all want each other to succeed in any way whether it is academics or on floor. We are trying to push each other to be the best we can be in everything we do.”

                What pleased Beck the most about the win the past two nights was how unselfish the team is.

                “I liked the fact, two nights in a row, we really showed the ball,” he said. “We turned the ball over a lot more then we needed to tonight. We also need to hunker down at the free throw line and hit our free line. Right now that is our Achilles heel and everyone is aware of that. We need to spend more time shooting free throws and improve our game.”

                WNCC, however, didn’t play a perfect contest as they turned the ball over 18 times and shot just 57 percent (16 of 28) from the free throw line. Those are areas that Beck said they need to clean up.

                “Defensively we have a lot to work on,” Beck said. “We need to get back to work on Monday and try to fix those deficiencies and I think if we can tune those things up we can be a pretty good ball club. But, right now, despite the margin of victory, we still have a lot of work to do.”

                WNCC started the contest off with 13 straight points, including eye-popping dunks by Marko Kovacevic, Du’Vaughn Maxwell, and Delgado for a 13-0 lead. Little Big Horn battled back with a 9-0 run to slice the lead to 13-9. After that, though, the Cougars stepped up their offense, outscoring the Rams 50-26 the rest of the first half for a commanding 63-35 lead at intermission.

                The Cougars offensive was high octane once again as they blistered the nets for 14 treys and had 15 dunks. Maxwell slammed home six while Kovacevic had four, Delgado had three, and Mike Peltz and Mason Smith each had one.

                WNCC had six players finish with double digits. After Delgado’s 45 points, Maxwell ahd a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds, Terrance Motley had 13 points, Smith and Kovacevic each with 12, and Peltz with 10. The Cougars also shared the ball well, dishing out 34 assists with Peltz collecting eight assists and Tahir Little and Kovacevic each getting five assists.

                Little Big Horn finished the contest shooting 30 percent from the field. The Rams were led by DJ Marlow with 20 points and Treat Hollis with 13.

                Still, it was a good win for the Cougars as they prepare for three games next week. The Cougars will travel to Kyle, S.D., on Tuesday to face Oglala Lakota College, before returning home on Friday and Saturday for the WNCC Classic where they will face Buckley Air Force Base on Friday and Utah State University-College of Eastern Utah on Saturday.

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First Game

Oglala Lakota                     30 32 – 62

Lamar C.C.                           59 62 – 121

OGLALA LAKOTA
Cruz Watson 3, Willie Zephier 29, Tyson Heart 21, Spur Pourier 3, Russell Running Hawk 6.

LAMAR C.C.

James Bowe 3, Mohanned Musleh 7, Will Bunion 7, Malcolm Brooks 14, Trey Beverly 12, Preston Rayburn 8, Kenny Peters 5, Matt Sherriff 8, Sam Sykes 9, Drew Herig 12, DeAngelo Craig 13, Joel Brokenbrough 9, Shore Adenekan 14.

Second Game

Little Big Horn                    35 27 -- 62

WNCC (4-0)                        63 75 -- 138

LITTLE BIG HORN

DJ Marlow 20, Cody Clark 8, Trent Hollis 13, George Reed 5, Trent Hollis 9, Colin Tyrone 4, Isaiah Bird in Ground 3.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Tahir Little 6, Mike Peltz 10, Cal McCoy 5, Du’Vaughn Maxwell 20, Mason Smith 12, Raul Delgado 45, Sebastian Suarez 9, Marko Kovacevic 12, Terrance Motley 13, Marcus Johnson 6.