Western Nebraska Community College’s Scott Bamforth and Francisco Cruz each hit for 30 points to lead the Cougars to a thrilling 119-111 overtime win over Williston State College in the first day of the TEAM Chevrolet Thanksgiving Classic.
In the early game, Eastern Wyoming also lit up the scoreboard, nailing 12 first-half 3-pointers in racing past Trinidad State Junior College and Winston Harris had a double-double to lead the Lancers to a 93-79 win.
Both squads will be back in action today in the final day of the TEAM Chevrolet Thanksgiving Classic. The Lancers will battle Williston State at 3 p.m. while the Cougars will face Trinidad State.
Both contests were classic wins by both area teams. But the Cougars win had plenty of drama. WNCC and Williston State had 19 lead changes and 10 ties in the contest, but it was Cruz’ bucket at the buzzer that was the big shot to force the 10th tie of the game to force overtime.
“Williston did a great job and they played really hard,” WNCC coach Brian Joyce said. “I think our guys were taken back a little bit. I knew they were good and I told our guys it was going to be a tough game because they were going to play their tails off and they did.”
WNCC, though, kept battling, and the storyline is free throw shooting. The squads combined for 78 free throws, with the Cougars making 38 of 52 charity stripes. Cruz was 12 of 15 from the line, while Bamforth was 13 of 16.
But, as much as the Cougars were hot from the free throw line, the Tetons were sizzling from beyond the arc, rattling home 16 of 41 3-pointers. Mathaniel Pachineau led the way with seven treys as he led all scorers with 31 points. Luke Martinez also cashed in on six 3-pointers and 21 ponts.
The final two minutes of regulation was an intense moment for both sides. Williston just took a 100-97 lead on a Martinez trey. WNCC fought back, slicing the lead to one point, 102-101, on a John Bright bucket with 38.7 seconds left.
The Tetons took a 104-101 lead on Malik Omar’s one of two free throws with just 11.7 ticks on the clock. That was when things got interesting as Daniel Smith was intentionally fouled with seven seconds to play. Smith hit just one of two free throws, but WNCC got the ball back and Cruz hit a 5-fot jumper from the paint at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
In the extra period, WNCC built an 108-104 lead before Williston fought back behind a trey by Erekle Jgerenaia and a driving bucket by Packineau for a 109-108 lead. WNCC came storming back as Smith followed his own shot and had an old-fashioned 3-point play to put the Cougars up 113-109.
Williston sliced the lead to 115-111 with 30 seconds to play, but clutch free throw shooting down the stretch gave the Cougars their fifth straight win.
WNCC had five players in double figures. Besides Bamforth and Cruz’s 30 points each, Larry Brown had 15, Smith finished with 12, and Chris Hamblin had 10.
Williston State placed six players in double figures, led by Pachineau’s 31 points. Omar also collected a double-double, getting 13 points and 10 rebounds.
In the earlier contest, EWC shot 64 percent (12-19) from beyond the arc in the first half to grab a 44-29 halftime lead. In the second half, Trinidad State made the contest interesting, holding the Lancers’ outside shooting to just 1 of 3 from behind the arc. The Trojans, in the meantime, connected on 50 percent of their shots, to slice the lead to 82-79 with just under two minutes to play.
EWC picked up the pace, outscoring the Trojans 11-0 in the final two minutes to claim the win.
The Lancers placed four players in double figures. Winston Harris paced the team with 21 points followed by Billy Butler with 18, Lance Korell with 16, and Arunas Simanavicius with 15.
Trinidad State had four players hit the double figure column. Curtis Ashe led the way with 18 points followed by Willie Holmes with 17, and Donell Wells and Josh Megyeri with 16 points each.
“Our test tonight was that we were faced with the same situation as Tuesday, which was playing a good first half and a good lead at halftime and then I asked them how are we going to respond in the second half,” EWC coach Casey Jones said. “I asked them were we going to let what happened Tuesday night in the second half happen again, where they [the opponent] would come back and beat us. Trinidad State did come back, but our guys did a good job of absorbing their comeback and winning.
Trinidad State 29 50 – 79
Eastern Wyoming 44 49 – 93
TRINIDAD STATE
Donell Wells 16, Willie Holmes 17, Devon Manning 2, Josh Megyeri 16, Josh Henry 1, Curtis Ashe 18, Darron Houlison 8, Chuck Kempf 1.
EASTERN WYOMING
Billy Butler 18, Jacarn Culberson 5, Lance Korell 16, Matt Pritchett 6, Leo Morris 1, Arunas Simanavius 15, Zach Serda 3, Caleb Moore 4, Winston Harris 23.
Three-pointers: TSJC 11 (Megyeri 4, Wells 4, Ashe 3), EWC 13 (Harris 5, Korell 4, Butler 2, Simanavicius, Serda).
Williston State 57 47 7 – 111
Western Nebraska 52 52 15 – 119
WILLISTON STATE
Devon Jackson 11, Nathaniel Packineau 31, Charlie Chapman 7, Luke Martinez 21, Neil Packineau 2, Erekle Jgerenaia 10, Sharmile Jeffers 2, Malik Omar 13, Justin Berry 14.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Lloyd Hickinson 2, Saul Torres 2, Daniel Smith 12, Chris Hamblin 10, Scott Bamforth 30, Francisco Cruz 30, Virgil Baker 7, Larry Brown 15, John Bright 6, Ali Djim 5.
Three-pointers: Williston 16 (Na. Pachineau 7, Martinez 6, Jgerenaia 2, Chapman), WNCC 3 (Bamforth 3).
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