Northeastern
Junior College’s Odessa Lear scored 32 points and the No. 23-ranked Plainsmen breathed
a sigh of relief after Western Nebraska Community College’s Diante Mitchell’s
last-second tying three-pointer rimmed out to give NJC a heart-pounding 85-82
win Tuesday evening at Cougar Palace.
The
Cougars had five players finish with double figures, led by Tyler Crosbie and
Youssoupha Kane each with 17 points. Kane finished with a double-double,
pulling down 12 rebounds.
The
difference in the game was rebounding and free-throw shooting. The Plainsmen
out-rebounded the Cougars 48-32, including getting 28 offensive boards.
The
Plainsmen also connected on 27 of 37 free throws compared to just 13 of 21 for
WNCC. The other difference in the contest was 3-point shooting. NJC buried 10
treys to just seven for the Cougars. Lear finished with six 3-pointers, while
WNCC was led by Crosbie and Joel Einfeldt with two each.
The
first half was 20 minutes of runs by both teams. WNCC jumped to a 12-4 lead on
back-to-back 3-pointers by Crosbie and Brandon Morley. It was short lived as
NJC took a 13-12 lead.
WNCC came back to lead 20-13.
NJC got hot, going on a 14-0 run to lead 27-20 and later 38-23 on back-to-back
treys from Lear. NJC went on to lead 44-34 at intermission.
The
second half saw the Plainsmen lead by 48-38 and later 53-46 on a bucket by Joe
Uke with just four minutes gone. It was WNCC’s turn to get hot as the Cougars
went on a 15-3 run to grab their first lead since early in the first half at
58-56 with 11 minutes to play. The run was highlighted by two Kane dunks and a
driving bucket by Diante Mitchell to tie the game at 56.
After
WNCC took the lead on two free throws by Einfeldt, NJC regrouped and led 65-58
and later 69-60. The Plainsmen continued to keep the Cougars at bay, holding an
80-69 lead with 3:41 to play. The last three minutes of the contest belonged to
the Cougars as they battled back, slicing the lead to one, 80-79 on a Mitchell
3-pointer with 1:14 to play.
NJC’s
Isiah Cooper came back to dunk home two points to push the lead back to
3-points. WNCC refused to fold as Kane had a tip in to cut the lead to cut the
lead to 82-81. Lake Reed hit two free throws with 9.8 seconds to put NJC back
up by three. Crosbie was then fouled and hit just one free throw with 2.8
seconds. NJC’s Joe Dellenbach then made just one of two free throws with 2.1
seconds and after a timeout, Mitchell had a good look at a NBA 3-pointer that
just rimmed out as time expired.
Besides
Crosbie and Kane hitting for double figures, Einfeldt finished with 16 points,
Morley had 14, and Mitchell had 12.
WNCC
(11-8) will next be in action Saturday when they travel to Lamar for another
sub-region contest. The Cougars will then return home on Tuesday to face Casper
College.
NE Colorado (15-2) 44
41 – 85
WNCC (11-8) 34
48 – 82
NORTHEASTERN JUNIOR COLLEGE
Jamal Crocker 3, Odessa Lear 32, Duol Mayot 8, Isiah
Cooper 4, Bronson Moton 4, Joe Dellenback 10, Jamal Peterson 8, Lake Reed 7,
Joe Uke 9.
WNCC
Tyler Crosbie 17, Preston Christensen 1, Youssoupha Kane
17, Diante Mitchell 12, Joel Einfeldt 16, Derrick Bowers 5, Brandon Morley 14.
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