EWC men defeat WNCC men in first day of Thanksgiving Classic

The Eastern Wyoming College men’s basketball team shot 48 percent from the field and frustrated the Western Nebraska Community College offense with an in-your-face, hustling defense to register a commanding 86-61 win over the Cougars in the first day of the Thanksgiving Classic at Cougar Palace.

The other game of the Thanksgiving Classic saw the Western Wyoming Community College men run past Buckley Air Force Base 96-54.

Today’s matchups in the second day of the Thanksgiving Classic will pit Eastern Wyoming against Buckley at 3 p.m. and the Cougars against Western Wyoming at 7 p.m.

EWC coach Casey Jones said he harps on playing strong defense in practice and in a game. Friday night, it was that stingy defense that gave the Cougars fits all night long.

“If you categorize our practices, we go 70 percent defense, 25 percent offense in the mindset that our defense will create our offense,” the Lancer first-year coach said. “We are not very good offensively yet, but I am not worried about. If we learn how to guard, we don’t have to worry about nights that we don’t shoot the ball very well because we can fight through those nights. We guarded OK tonight. We gave up a lot of dribble penetration and a lot of transition and didn’t handle posts very well.”

As much as the Lancer defense was sparkling, the offense was hitting clutch shots and making it hard for a Cougar comeback in the second half.

WNCC did, however, start off on a good note, grabbing a 14-8 lead on a Tearon Hill offensive rebound and putback with five minutes gone in the first half. After that, though, the Lancers turned the game around in a heartbeat as Chris Daniels netted back-to-back buckets to tie the game at 14.

Both teams went back and forth for much of the first half. WNCC’s Kelvin Franklin nailed a 3-pointer with 3:30 left in the half to five the Cougars a 33-32 lead. That, though, was the last time the Cougars would lead as 10 seconds later, Casey Robinson buried back-to-back treys to give EWC a 38-33 lead. EWC led 43-38 at halftime.

EWC nailed 10 3-pointers in the contest and Jones said they had a decent night shooting from beyond the arc.

“We are an OK 3-point shooting team and we are good at it when we go inside first and create it from inside out,” he said. “It looks like we shot a good percentage and we should because the kids that we have that can shoot it are skilled shooters.”

The Cougars shooting, on the other hand, was lethargic. WNCC shot 37 percent from the field compared to 48 percent for EWC. The Cougars also were a dismal 14 percent (2-of-14) from the 3-point area compared to the Lancers’ 43 percent (10-of-23). The Cougars even couldn’t hit free throws on the night, finishing with 7-of-16 shooting (43 percent), while the Lancers were 13-of-17 for 71 percent.

The second half was a nightmare for WNCC. After cutting the lead early to 45-40 on a Kelvin Franklin bucket, the Lancers turned up the defensive heat. At one point, the Lancers went on a 9-0 run to grab a 61-44 lead.

Jones said he was proud of his squad for not letting WNCC come back in the second half, which has been the Achilles heel for them so far this year.

“We have been going through some problems of leading in the second half, pretty much all our games except for the Southern Idaho game, and for some reason just giving them up,” he said. “I think the team showed tonight they are sick of giving up leads and they wanted to prove they were strong enough and good enough to finish off games.”

EWC was paced by four players with double-digit scoring nights. Sophomore Casey Robinson led all scorers with 25 points, including three 3-pointers. Also hitting for double digits were Daniels and Scotty McRae with 15 points and George Williams with 10.

WNCC had just two players netted double digits, led by Franklin’s 16 points and Daniel Smith’s 14 points.

In other action Friday, Western Wyoming buried 11 3-pointers and put three players in double figures as they ran over Buckley 96-54. Jared Quayle led the way with 21 points, including three 3-pointers. Armando Brito finished with 17 points and three 3-pointers, while Corey Kaminkska had 10 points.

Buckley was led by James Lewis with 20 points followed by Sancoyus Justice with 17.

Buckley 27 27 – 54

Western Wyoming 50 46 – 96

BUCKLEY AIR FORCE

Sancoyus Justice 17, James Lewis 20, Shaun Williams 2, Rich Paige 3, Miles Jones 2, Joshua Cradoet 2, Reginald Slaton 2, DeShawn Crawford 6.

WESTERN WYOMING

Trey Stephens 4, Kyle Straetman 3, Mitch Schuler 5, Darin Weeks 5, Jeremy Catron 3, Courtney Birch 6, Jared Quayle 21, Corey Kaminska 10, Armando Brito 17, Brodie Birch 5, Nick Howard 4, Maciej Ustarbowski 9, Tyvyn Mitchell 5.

EWC 43 43 – 86

WNCC 38 23 – 61

EASTERN WYOMING

Chris Daniels 15, Dane Hill 8, Matt Pritchett 9, Scotty McRae 16, George Williams 10, Caleb Moore 2, Casey Robinson 26.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Jamie Eisinger 4, Daniel Smith 14, Kelvin Franklin 16, Lloyd Hickinson 4, Drew Eisinger 6, Chris Hamblin 4, Doradji Wilson 3, Devin West 2, Tearon Hill 8.