Mike Peltz nailed 11 of 14 free throws and the Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team used a 14-0 run in the second half to comeback to defeat No. 19 Northwest (Wyo.) College 84-76 Friday evening at Cougar Palace in the Holiday Classic.
WNCC coach Russ Beck said his team found that energy level in the second half that was crucial.
“We played with a lot of confidence and I thought our bench was really, really good in terms of our energy,” Beck said. “We will need that same comrade that we have in really playing together. I talked to the guys about minimizing mistakes. We just need to do the little things tomorrow.”
Saturday’s contest will be a barnburner as the Cougars will take on No. 12 and defending national champions the College of Southern Idaho at 7:30 p.m. The first game on the night will pit Laramie County Community College against Northwest Wyoming. CSI defeated LCCC 83-53 in the opening game on Friday.
WNCC, which led one time 17-8 in the first half, found themselves trailing at intermission 40-35. The second half, however, was wear the Cougars won the contest, with a high-energy defensive intensity. Trailing 56-51, Raul Delgado sank a 3-pointer and then a Marko Kovacevic dunk with 10:07 to play gave the Cougars their first lead since midway in the first half.
The Cougars built the lead to 65-56 as Delgado nailed another 3-pointer and then slammed home a dunk after a steal to put WNCC up by nine.
Beck said his team found that energy level in the second half that was crucial.
“We were a little bit stagnant within our offense in the first half. We were standing and watching,” he said. “We work really hard in practice about passing and moving and passing and screening, and we were not getting the movement we were getting in the first half. So, we came out in the second half and ran some things that got us a lot of ball movement, a lot of cuts to the rim, to wake us up in the comatose that we were in.”
With WNCC up by nine points, the game was far from over as Northwest came back to cut the lead to 74-71 with three minutes to play on two free throws by Chris Hanson. WNCC quickly changed gears as Du’Vaughn Maxwell scored a bucket and Peltz connected on six of eight free throws down stretch to give the Cougars their ninth win of the season.
WNCC placed four players in double figures, led by Delgado’s 25 points. Delgado connected on six 3-pointers and had five assists and five rebounds. Peltz finished the contest with 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals.
Also hitting for double figures were Kovacevic and Maxwell each with 16 points. Maxwell and Peltz led the team with eight rebounds each.
As a team, the Cougars shot 47.7 percent from the field and limited the Trappers to 41.8 percent.
Northwest placed three players in double figures as Chris Hanson led all scorers with 26 points, including five 3-pointers. Junior Coleman also chipped in 18 while Guilherme Carabagjale had 11 points.
First Game
Southern Idaho 45 38 – 83
Laramie County 27 26 – 53
SOUTERN IDAHO
Pat Swilling 9, Jon Pulsifer 4, Jerran Foster 10, Fabyon Harris 13, Kevin Attila 11, Rafriel Guthrie 4, Dennis Mikelonis 2, Paul Egwuonwu 4, Luek Cothron 18, Paul Bunch 2, Greg Seguele 6.
LARAMIE COUNTY
Charles Cooks 12, LaMel Hamberg 2, Philip Freeman 23, Julian Chiera 6, Ude Ifeanyichukwu 9, Germain Decoste 2, Rodrigo Silva 1.
Second Game
Northwest 40 36 – 76
WNCC (9-1) 35 49 – 84
NORTHWEST
Ty Ackelson 5, Guilherme Carabagiale 11, Zach Stanley 5, Jeffrey Solarin 2, Pietro de Andrade 5, Junior Coleman 18, Konner frey 4, Chris Hanson 26.
Ty Ackelson 5, Guilherme Carabagiale 11, Zach Stanley 5, Jeffrey Solarin 2, Pietro de Andrade 5, Junior Coleman 18, Konner frey 4, Chris Hanson 26.
WNCC
Tahir Little 4, Mike Peltz 17, Brady Mason 4, Du’Vaughn Maxwell 16, Raul Delgado 25, Marko Kovacevic 16, Terrance Motley 2.
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