CASPER, Wyo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College men's and women's basketball teams came up short in their regular season finales Saturday night in Casper, Wyo.
The Cougar men, who will be hosting the Region IX tournament beginning Friday, had two in double-figures, but it wasn't enough as they fell 101-82 to the Thunderbirds.
On the women's side, the Cougars started slow and then watched Casper outscore WNCC in the second half 45-34 in earning the 80-60 win.
The men saw Du'Vaughn Maxwell and Marko Kovacevic finish with double-doubles in the contest. Maxwell finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Kovacevic had 19 points and 13 rebounds.
WNCC also saw Mike Peltz and Sebastian Suarez finish with double digits with 11 points each.
The Cougars, who dropped to 24-6 on the season, was really never in the contest. WNCC did cut a first-half 15-point deficit to 10 points at one time, but a late charge by the Thunderbirds saw Casper take a 61-46 lead into halftime.
WNCC started the second half well as Kovacevic nailed a field goal and Suarez hit a 3-ponter to cut the lead to 10 points. Casper came right back and pushed the lead back to 15 and went on to lead by 20 points 82-62 midway through the contest.
WNCC shot 48 percent from the field, but only converted on 5 of 15 3-pointers. Casper shot 53 percent from the field and 60 percent from beyond the arc.
In the women's contest, it was a defensive battle early as WNCC's Jasmine Shaffer netted the Cougars' first points with five minutes gone in the game with a 3-poiner. Casper came back to lead by double digits early only to watch the Cougars cut the lead to one point on two Kelsey Doddridge free throws. The Thunderbirds rebounded after that in taking a 9-point lead into halftime, 35-26.
The second half was all Casper as the women's Region IX tournament host out-scored the Cougars 45-34 for the win.
The Cougars had three players in double figures. Samantha Sanders led the way with 17 points. Leona Garrett also had a strong contest, finishing with a double-double of 11 rebounds and 13 points. Doddridge also hit for 13 points in the loss.
Both Cougar teams will compete in the regional tournament which begins next Friday. The Cougar women will open the tournament Saturday at 3 p.m. against the North 6 seed, which is Central Wyoming College.
The Cougar men open tournament play on Friday at 8 p.m. against Northeast (Nebraska) Community College.
Women's Game
WNCC 26 34 -- 60
Casper 35 45 -- 80
WNCC
Leona Garrett 11, Samantha Sanders 17, Kelsey Doddridge 13, Jessica Aratani 4, Jasmine Shaffer 3, Lisa Durden 2, ChaCha Ofoegbu 3, Tehshonna Bealer-West 4. Men's GameWNCC 46 36 -- 82Casper 61 50 -- 101WNCCMason Smith 4, Raul Delgado 3, Mike Peltz 11, Marko Kovacevic 19, Sebastian Suarez 11, Du'Vaughn Maxwell 23, Terrance Motley 6, Cal McCoy 2, Tahir Little 2.
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