19th-ranked WNCC knock off EWC

  The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team didn't want cracking the NJCAA top 20 for the first time since 2005 be a one-week affair as they took on Highway 26 rivals Eastern Wyoming College Tuesday night.

WNCC moved into the national rankings at No. 19 this week and they showed just how potent of an offensive defensive team they can be early on in the contest. The Cougars quickly took control of the sub-region contest, rolling to a 26-7 lead and then held on to drop the Lancers 85-71.

The contest, however, was not one-sided by any means. The Lancers sliced the once-comfortable Cougar lead down to seven points in the second half, 53-46, before the Cougars pushed the lead to the 14-point win.

"You have to give it to EWC, they played really hard. But we made some shots tonight when we needed to make shots to keep that cushion and I am just glad to come out with a win," WNCC coach Russ Beck said.

EWC coach Casey Jones said that the game could have had a different outcome if they wouldn't have spotted the Cougars that 19-point lead. He was proud of the way they played after that 26-7 lead. EWC actually outscored WNCC 64-59 the rest of the contest.

"I could not be more pleased with the last 30 minutes," Jones said. "We were down 26-7 and then we won the rest of the game. I really enjoyed how we competed; we just weren't ready for the start and the emotion of the game that is a rivalry and against a team that is playing well. There are not many teams that we are playing now that are on a roll like they are. Once we took that initial hit, we got it back to a game at halftime and made a run again, getting it into single digits and controlled the second half. It took a lot of energy."

WNCC was just sizzling early on as Du'Vaughn Maxwell and Raul Delgado were playing lights out. Delgado ahd thee 3-pointers during that early run and Maxwell was a force inside. Beck said that Maxwell had one of his best games, finishing with a game-high 29 points and 12 rebounds.

"Maxwell and Marko were really active inside and it is probably Du'Vaughn's high on the year of 29 points and 12 boards," he said. "He gave us a good game. Sebastian also had a good game and Mike Peltz had a great game with seven assists and zero turnovers. Mike does a great job, he runs our team."

After WNCC got up 26-7, the Lancers made a run cutting the deficit to 12 points, 31-19, on a Matt Rosenbaum bucket. WNCC came back on a bucket by Allen Beck and then a trey by Sebastian Suarez to go up 38-26 at halftime.

The second half saw WNCC hold a 53-40 lead until the Lancers sliced the lead to seven points at 53-46 on a Jarett Upchurch bucket. WNCC came back as Beck and Maxwell each hit buckets and then they pushed the lead back to double digits on Delgado's fourth trey of the game at 62-50 and the Cougars held a double digit lead the rest of the way.

Maxwell led all scorers with 29 points. Delgado also chipped in 23 points, including four 3-pointers, while Suarez had 12 points and three 3-pointers.

The Lancers was led by Upchurch with 20 points followed by Rosenbaum with 15 and Ryan Wilson with 13.

The Lancers will be back in action Thursday when they travel to Central Wyoming for a contest, while the No. 19 Cougars will host Casper College on Friday at 7:30 p.m. That contest will be "White Out" night as fans are asked to wear white to the game for Cougar spirit.



EWC (7-11) 26 45 -- 71

WNCC (17-3) 38 47 -- 85

EASTERN WYOMING

Jordan Dick 9, Prescott Williams 2, Jarett Upchurch 20, Ryan Wilson 13, Chad Cottam 9, Slade Spoonhunter 3, Matt Rosenbaum 15.

WESTERN NEBRASKA
Tahir Little 2, Mike Peltz 2, Allen Beck 4, Du'Vaughn Maxwell 29, Mason Smith 4, Raul Delgado 23, Sebastian Suarez 12, Marko Kovacevic 9.