WNCC men, women take down Northeast Nebraska

        The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s basketball teams picked up wins over Northeast Community College in different fashions.

       The Cougar women received two late free throws from Jessica Aratani in registering a 49-48 win. The men, on the other hand, rolled to a 52-3 halftime lead and coasted to the 91-55 sub-region win.
       The Cougar womam held a 23-17 halftime lead and were up by six points late in the contest before Northeast took a 48-47 lead with 1:33 to play.
       WNCC’s defense stayed strong in shutting down the Hawks in getting the win.
Aratani had a big night, finishing with 15 points and eight rebounds, while ChaCha Ofoegbu had 10 points and nine rebounds.
       Kelsey Doddridge also finished with 11 points, while Idil Ozbayrak had 12 rebounds.
       The men’s contest was all WNCC as the Cougars went to 3-0 in the sub-region with the lopsided win.
       The Cougars shot 47 percent from the field and were 52 percent from the 3-point area in posting their 15^th win of the season.
       “I liked our defensive effort and we made the extra pass tonight,” WNCC coach Russ Beck said. “We now need a good game tomorrow [Saturday] at McCook.”
       The Cougars placed four players in double figures, led by Sebastian Suarez with 24 points, including four 3-pointers and eight rebounds.
      Also hitting for double figures was Raul Delgado with 15 points, Marko Kovecevic with 12 points and nine rebounds, and Mason Smith with 10 points.
     Mike Peltz finished the game with just five ponts, but had four assists and four steals. Du’Vaughn Maxwell also pulled down 10 rebounds to go with his five points.
     Both WNCC teams will be in action Saturday night when they travel to McCook for sub-region tilts before returning home for a sub-region, Highway 26 encounter with Eastern Wyoming College on Tuesday.

Women’s Game

WNCC 23 26 – 49
NE Nebraska 17 31 – 48

WNCC

Kelsey Doddridge 11, ChaCha Ofoegbu 10, Jessica Aratani 15, Lisa Durden 5, Leona Garrett 2, Jasmine Shaffer 2, Samantha Sanders 4.

Men’s Game

WNCC 52 39 – 91
NE Nebraska 32 23 – 55

WNCC

Sebastian Suarez 24, Raul Delgado 15, Mason Smith 10, Marko Kovacevic 12, Tahir Little 7, Mike Peltz 5, Du’Vaughn Maxwell 5, Allen Beck 4, Brady Mason 4, Terramce Motley 4, Marcus Johnson 1.