MARCH 5 -- WNCC men earn win in first round of regional tournaemnt

                [March 5] STERLING, Colo. -- Tyler Crosbie scored 25 points and the Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team rolled to an 87-57 win over Miles Community College in the second day of the Region IX tournament in Sterling, Colo.

                The Cougars (18-13) will face Northeastern Junior College at 8 p.m. Monday in the quarterfinals.

Other second-round games Monday will have North Platte against Casper College at 1 p.m., Gillette College against McCook at 3 p.m., and Northwest Wyoming against Sheridan College at 6 p.m.

                WNCC's performance Monday was the best defensive effort of the eight first-round games over the weekend. The Cougars held Miles to under 60 points and just 35 percent shooting.

                Offensively, the Cougars 87 points is the third highest in the first round. Only Gillette and Northeastern Junior College scored the most in the first round, each scoring 99 points.

                The Cougars offense was lightning hot, netting 45 percent of their shots. The Cougars also connected on 7 of 16 3-pointers. What also helped the Cougars Sunday night was rebounding, where they out-rebounded the Pioneers 55-34, led by Youssoupha Kane's 15 boards.

                The Cougars didn't catch fire until five minutes into the game. Miles held an 8-4 lead and that was when the momentum turned. WNCC went on a 13-0 run to lead 17-8 behind 3-pointers by Derrick Bowers and Tyler Crosbie.

                WNCC finished off the first half with a strong defensive effort, holding Miles to not making back-to-back buckets. WNCC led 44-27 at the break.

                Just like the first half, the Cougars opened the second half with another big run, going on a 17-7 run that pushed the lead to 61-34. WNCC never let up as they went up by 33 points, 77-45 on back-to-back tom-a-hawk dunks by Jalen Griffiths and Julio Guity as they cruised to the first-round win.

                Crosbie led all scorers with 25 points, including five 3-pointers. WNCC also received 14 points from Brandon Morley, 12 points from Preston Christensen, and 11 points from Derrick Bowers.

                Miles had just two players in double figures. Tyree King and Quinn Smith each had 10 points.

                Other first round results in the tournament included North Platte over Central Wyoming 71-69, Gillette over Trinidad State 99-76, Sheridan taking down Otero 83-65, Northeastern Colorado beating Little Big Horn 99-82, Casper besting Lamar 82-62, McCook taking down Western Wyoming 78-71, and Northwest Wyoming defeating Laramie County 85-76.

WNCC (18-13)    44 43 -- 87

Miles (14-17)      27 30 -- 57

WNCC

Tyler Crosbie 25, Preston Christensen 12, Youssoupha Kane 7, Diante Mitchell 6, DouDou Gueye 3, Jalen Griffiths 3, Derrick Bowers 11, Brandon Morley 14, Julio Guity 6.

Miles

Conner Smyle 2, Tyree King 12, Greg Spencer 4, Ryan McCarty 7, Teslim Idris 6, Jonathon Dogbo 7, Quinn Smith 12, LaSalle Massey 6, Emmanuel Olufemi 1.