WNCC downs North Platte for sub-region win
The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team took the first step in hosting this year’s Region IX tournament, and they did it in impressive fashion downing North Platte Community College 83-74 in an East sub-region tilt Wednesday at North Platte.
WNCC coach John Jungers said what the makes the win even more special is the fact they won on the road. “It is a good win for us. We are 1-0 in the sub-region and that puts us in the drivers seat,” he said. “We went on the road and took care of business. That is a tough thing to do and we went in there and took care of it.”
The key in the game was the team’s defensive effort. The Cougars held the Knights to 35 percent shooting and out-rounded the North Platte team 48-30. Ricardo De Bem, who is headed to Texas Tech next year, led the team with a double-double, 21 points and 13 rebounds.
“Our defensive field goal percentage where we held North Platte to 35 percent for the game was a big key. That was something we really wanted to focus on,” he said. “Combine that to us out-rebounding them 48-30, and with those two things, we dominated on that end of the floor for the majority of the night. We spent the last two practices really talking about that. The guys listened and I am very proud of their effort.”
The Cougars played hard throughout the contest taking a 38-31 lead into halftime. From there, they built the lead to double digits and maintained that until late.
“We extended the 7-point halftime lead and then at the end we kind of pulled our same old self of not taking very good care of the ball and making silly mistakes,” he said. “But, there weren’t as many as there have been in the past. We have gotten better.”
The Cougars placed four players in double figures. Besides De Bem’s 21 points, Erik Smith blistered the net for 19 points. CJ Hampton finished with 16 points and Matthew Akins had 11 points.
Smith, Hampton and David Busma each pulled down six rebounds, while Akins had five boards.
The Cougars will have one game left before break when they travel back to North Platte to face Southeast (Neb.) Community College on Saturday. After that, the Cougars will open the second semester with the New Years Classic at home Jan. 5-6 before playing their second sub-region contest Jan. 10 against McCook Community College Jan. 10.
“We really do have a good team. We have good players and I think when the good players come together will are a very good team,” he said. “We have one more game before exams and then we will get ready for second semester.”
WNCC 38 45 – 83
NPCC 31 43 – 74
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Chance Wallesen 6, Maurice Wright 4, Matthew Akins 11, CJ Hampton 16, David Busma 4, Erik Smith 19, Doradji Wilson 2, Ricardo De Bem 21.
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