The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team will enjoy the comforts of home the next four weekends as they will host tournaments each weekend.
The home action begins this weekend as the 2-0 Cougars get set to host the Cougar Classic on Friday and Saturday. WNCC will face Oglala Lakota on Friday and Little Big Horn College on Saturday. Both games are slated for a 7:30 p.m. start. Lamar Community College will play both days at 5:30 p.m.
WNCC coach Russ Beck said his team is looking forward to the upcoming road schedule that will see them play nine of the next 10 games at home. Beck said playing these games at home should help the team ignite offensively.
“We spend a lot of times shooting, especially with our shooting license and our three-point shot,” he said. “I would have expected that we would have shot the ball better in our two jamborees and our two games at Williston, but I believe we will shoot the ball a lot better at home because every time we come back, our guys can’t miss. I am excited to see when we play at home.”
The Cougars will face two teams that play hard and Beck said that they cannot underestimate either team.
“On any given night, if you don’t come ready to play the way you are capable of playing, anybody can lose to anybody,” Beck said. “That is why we are taking the approach that we are one game at a time regardless what our team goals are on the year. All our focus right know is Oglala Lakota on Friday.”
Beck said both teams will battle for the full 40 minutes.
“Both teams, traditionally, will shoot the ball well,” he said. “We expect them to come in and play hard. Little Big Horn has a new coach and it will be interesting to see the kind of players he has recruited. We saw Oglala Lakota last year and they are just three hours away and we try to help them with games since they don’t have the budget to pick up a lot of games. We expect them to come in and play hard. We just need to handle our business and get better. It is not about winning, it is just we need to get better each game.”
In the season-opening last weekend where the Cougars defeated Williston State 82-78 and Lake Region State College 86-73 on the road, Beck said it was a good start to the season.
“We were happy to go on the road and happy with the wins, but we are not very good yet, which is good,” he said. “We want to be humble and hard working and try to eliminate some mistakes. We had a lot of turnovers over the weekend. We like to play fast, but there were times we were playing faster than we needed to. We are definitely happy with the start and we have a very talented team. This will be the best team I have had here and we just have to iron out some of those first few game jitters.”
There were a number of individuals that stand out.
“We are very athletic. We put a lot of pressure on teams with our offensive rebounding. We are very athletic, even at our guard spots,” Beck said. “Mike Peltz had a huge game for us against Lake Region, where he had 20 points and eight assists, so he was close to a double-double. Du’Vaughn Maxwell is averaging 23 points a game. He is very athletic and very active around the basket. We have four guys that are averaging over 10 points a game. “
Maxwell is No. 13 in the nation in scoring averaging 23 points a game. Peltz, an Alliance High graduate, currently leads Region IX in assists, averaging 5.5 a game.
“I like our team chemistry,” Beck said. “They are a team that plays hard for each other and our bench is really rowdy and loud. I think it will be a fun weekend for people to come out and see what we are and what we do.”
NOTES: The WNCC softball team will be teaming up with the Team Ashtyn Foundation for special events during halftime of this weekend’s contests. During halftime, individuals will have an opportunity to shoot free throws for $1. Contestants that make the free throw will receive a prize, while others will get a 25% off coupon to the Cougar Bookstore. Half the proceeds raised during the halftime shootout will go Team Ashytn and the other half to the softball program. … After this weekend’s contests, the Cougars will be on the road to Kyle, S.D., to face Oglala Lakota before returning home Nov. 18-19 to host the WNCC Classic, where they will face Buckley Air Force Base and the College of Eastern Utah.
Cougar Classic Invite Schedule
Friday, Nov. 11
5:30 p.m. – Lamar C.C. vs. Little Big Horn
7:30 p.m. – WNCC vs. Oglala Lakota
Saturday, Nov. 12
5:30 p.m. – Lamar C.C. vs. Oglala Lakota
7:30 p.m. – WNCC vs. Little Big Horn
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