WNCC men's season ends with loss to Casper College at regional tournament

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team shot just 33 percent from the field to fall in the first-round of men’s Region IX tournament in Torrington, Wyo., Sunday.

The Cougars saw their season come to an end to Casper College 72-65 in a game that saw Casper College lead by as much as 18 points in the second half, 43-25, only to hang on.

WNCC ends its season at 16-15, while Casper moves on to a quarter-final game against Northeastern Junior College at 1 p.m. on Monday.

The Cougars held an early 8-6 lead behind a 3-pointer by Drew Eisinger and a free throw by Lloyd Hickinson. After that, though, the T-Birds rolled to a 30-19 lead before the Cougars made the final two buckets of the half by David Busma and Kelvin Franklin to trail 30-23.

Casper forged ahead by 18 on a Jeremiah Wilson 3-pointer with about 12 minutes to play. Casper kept the lead at double-digits until late when the Cougar men started to make the game interesting.

Hickinson scored six straight points to get the Cougars within single digits, 55-64, with about three minutes to play. WNCC kept hammering away at the lead, slicing the lead to five points, 67-62, on a Chris Hamblin bucket with 45 seconds to play.

That was as close as WNCC got as Casper hit clutch free throws down stretch to get the win.

WNCC had for players finish with double-figure scoring. Kelvin Franklin led the team with 16 points, including four steals. Eisinger and Busma each had 11 points, while Daniel Smith had 10 points.

Busma also chipped in with eight rebounds, while Esinger had four steals and Greg Hinkle had three steals.

Casper College also had four players in double figure scorers, including two with double-doubles. Wilson finished with 10 points and 16 rebounds, while Josh Davis had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

David McKinnie finished with 14 points, while Langston Banks led all scorers with 19 points.

Casper 30 42 – 72
WNCC 23 42 – 65
CASPER COLLEGE
David McKinnie 14, Josh Davis 15, Langston Banks 19, Jeremiah Wilson 10, Marshall Kelly 2, Brian Ridgeway 6, Jamaar Burke 6.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Daniel Smith 10, Kelvin Franklin 16, Lloyd Hickinson 9, Drew Eisinger 11, David Busma 11, Chris Hamblin 8.