The Western Nebraska Community College defense held Lamar Community College to 20 second-half points and coasted to their ninth straight win with an impressive 73-47 win Tuesday night at Cougar Palace. What was really impressive with the win against Lamar, who won the Region IX tournament last year, is that the Runnin’ Lopes shot just 34 percent from the field, including 20 percent from the 3-point line. In contrast, WNCC shot a blistering 88.5 percent (23-of-26) from the free throw line. The Cougars also out-rebounded Lamar 49-26, including a 23-10 advantage on the offensive glass.
WNCC coach Russ Beck was pleased with the defensive effort, especially the second half.
“It is all energy and effort and you have to give credit to the guys,” he said. “Our team can be really disruptive when they want to. Our team can be one of the better defensive teams in the country if they desire to.”
It wasn’t until late in the first half that the Cougars defense picked it up another notch. Lamar just cut the lead to 24-21 on back-to-back buckets by Peter Milasinovic with five minutes left in the opening half. After that, the Cougars went on a 7-0 run highlighted by five points by Brylle Kamen, including an offensive putback that brought spirit to the team. WNCC went on to led 33-27 at the half.
WNCC put on a defensive show in the second half. Lamar sliced the lead to 38-30, but that was when the Cougars went on a 16-4 run to grab a 54-34 advantage with 10 minutes left in the half. Geddes Robinson did most of the damage during the stretch, scoring 11 of his game high 25 points, while Kamen had the other five points.
WNCC kept hunkering down on defense as they kept the margin around the 20-point margin the rest of the way, including hitting 8 of 9 of free throws to seal the Cougars ninth win of the season.
Robinson and Kamen, the two big guys in the paint, combined for 42 points and 16 rebounds inside. Kamen also nailed two 3-pointers on the night. Robinson had 25 points, while Kamen had 17 points. Beck said the big guys played well in the low post.
“We say that Lamar was playing behind them in the low post and anytime a team does that, you really want to work it to the inside,” he said. “Geddes Robinson is a very unique player. He is 6-5, 235 and he can handle the ball like a guard, but he can uproot you on the post. It is a blessing that we have him.”
Robinson connected on 8 of 14 field goals, but was a sizzling 9 of 10 from the free throw line. In fact, the whole team was making their free throws, which is something that really pleased Beck after the early season free throw shooting woes.
“Free throw shooting is something that we struggled with in the games that have been close. In the game against Gillette, we missed free throws down the stretch that made that a game. We have been spending a lot of time the past few days working on free throws quite a bit and it is good that it is paying off.”
Francisco Cruz joined Kamen and Robinson in the double figure scoring column, finishing with 16 points and two 3-pointers. Cruz was also a perfect 4-of-4 from the line, while Kamen was 5-of-6 from the striple.
WNCC, who received votes for the second straight week in the NJCAA national poll, will next be in action this weekend in Sheridan, Wyo. They will then be off until Dec. 29 when they compete in a New Year’s tournament in Iowa. Beck said they are going to continue to work hard on their defense.
“We are going to work on our defense, continue to work on our free throws, and try to eliminate our turnovers,” he said. “That is the one thing that I was not very happy with. I felt we turned the ball over way too much. Some of the turnovers was when they were being aggressive and got called for charges. I will take those turnovers, but the turnovers that we don’t get a shot on the rim are the ones I won’t accept.”
Lamar 27 20 – 47
WNCC (9-1) 33 40 – 73
LAMAR
Allen Tate 3, Arden Dennis 6, James Holmes 5, Jordan Hill 6, Scott Waller 8, Melvin Williams 5, Cameron Cosworh 6, Tidiame Diop 2, Peter Milasinovic 6.
WNCC
Geoffrey 6, Audre Marone 2, Saul Torres 2, O’Rion Hughes 1, Francisco Cruz 16, Al-Akeem Watson 4, Brylle Kamen 17, Geddes Robinson 25.
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