Scott Bamforth paced the Cougars with 15 points, including two 3-pointers as Lloyd Hickinson and Sedrick McBounds each tallied 14 points.
WNCC coach Brian Joyce was pleased with the first contest of the year, but realizes there is still work to do.
“I think our guys were very, very unselfish which was reflective of the number of times we passed the ball. It was also reflective of the number of turnovers. They were unforced in us trying to make the extra pass. That is unselfishness and you can live with that,” Joyce said. “We played with good energy at the beginning and sometimes a little too much on offense, which I think that is why we hurried a lot of shots. That is because we have guys that have not played college basketball. Overall, I thought the guys were really unselfish but there is still a lot of work to be done.”
The Cougars started strong, bolting out to a 5-0 lead and later pushed it to 26-7 on back-to-back buckets by Hickinson. WNCC continued to excel as they led 45-16 on a Virgil Baker bucket to help WNCC to a 54-31 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Cougars flashed some offensive finesse and some defensive intensity. First, the defense recorded back-to-back 5-second calls. Then, the offense hammered home three straight slam dunks. Tarell Clark had the highlight, starting things with a alley-oop dunk and then moments later added another. Chris Hamblin finished the dunking exhibition with a slam of his own to push the lead to 64-34.
WNCC continued to hit on all cylinders as they led 80-44 with 10 minutes to play in the contest on a Sedrick McBounds bucket. Hickinson put the Cougars over the century mark with 3:14 to play as WNCC cruised to the 113-65 win.
Also collecting double digits for the Cougars included John Bright with 12 points, and Clark and Saul Torres with 10 points each.
Buckley was paced by James Lewis’ 28 points, including 16-of-20 from the free throw line.
WNCC connected on four treys, two from Bamforth and one each from Francisco Cruz and Larry Brown.
The Cougars will return to action today in the second day of the Cougar Classic when they face Warren Air Force Base, who was an 86-85 loser to Southwest Academy. Buckley will take on Southwest Academy in the 5 p.m. game.
Game One
Southwest Academy 86, Warren Air Force Base 85
Southwest 43 43 – 86
Warren Air Force 42 43 – 85
SOUTHWEST ACADEMY
Terrance Hackett 2, Quincey Diggs 28, Keon Bennett 8, Dorrell Petties 4, Kaylim Noel 25, Greg Womack 10, Andrew Maguess 2, Harbi Khangura 7.
WARREN AIR FORCE
Will Ryhne 10, Russell Smith 2, Ryan Davis 12, Oranzie Simmons 32, Julius Philpos 29.
Game Two
Buckley Air Force 31 34 -- 65
WNCC (1-0) 54 59 – 113
BUCKLEY
Saninyus Justice 4, James Lewis 28, Shaun Williams 2, Arlington Riley 6, Daevon Wall 16, Joshua Craboet 7, Tim Blackwell 2.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Lloyd Hickinson 14, Terell Clark 10, Saul Torres 10, Daniel Smith 8, Chris Hamblin 7, Scott Bamforth 15, Francisco Cruz 7, Sedrick McBounds 14, Virgil Baker 6, Larry Brown 7, John Bright 12, Ali Djim 3.
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