The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team used an 11-0 run to end the first half in taking down Northeast Community College Hawks 57-53 in a defensive battle at Cougar Palace Saturday afternoon. The last time these two East Sub-region opponents met a month ago, Northeast claimed a 78-76 win at the buzzer. Saturday, the Cougars received a 17-point effort from Geddes Robinson and put together a team workman-like effort in picking up their 16th, and third straight win of the season.
WNCC coach Russ Beck was extremely with pleased with the defensive effort that his team showed. The Cougars forced 16 turnovers and out-rebounded the Hawks 42-35, including getting 27 defensive boards.
" We did a good job defensively, especially down the stretch," he said. "They got an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and that is when we have to honker down and just get a rebound. Overall the rebounding was good."
WNCC and Northeast were definitely hooked in a defensive stalemate in the first half as the Hawks held a 21-20 lead with four minutes to play in the opening 20 minutes. That was when the Cougar game picked it up another notch, going on an 11-0 run that was highlighted by a Francisco Cruz 3-pointer and four buckets by Brylle Kamen for a 31-21 halftime lead.
"You win games by the way you start and finish halves," Beck said. "We really got fired up with our ball pressure and it lead to easy baskets for us."
The Cougars kept the pressure on early in the second half as Andre Marone had four points and Robinson slammed home a dunk for a 37-27 lead. Northeast battled back, going o9n a 9-2 run to slice the lead to 42-40.
The Cougars bounced back, going on a 10-0 run of their own, highlighted by a Kamen dunk and field goal to push the lead back to 42-32 with 4:14 to play. After Northeast fought back, slicing the lead to 52-48, Kamen stole the ball and slammed it home for a 54-48 lead.
Northeast came back, slicing the lead to 54-53 as Jayvin Stevens grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and put it back in the hole with 26.1 second to play. WNCC added a single free throw by O'Rion Hughes with 19 seconds to play. The Hawks then missed a 3-pointer from the corner and Joe Stock was fouled with six-tenths to play to seal the win.
Kamen and Robinson had huge games in the paint for the Cougars. RObinson finished with six rebounds, while Kamen had eight. Beck said that Kamen's energy on the court keeps the team fired up.
"Brylle gives us great energy and emotion. Some people might misinterpret that at being selfish," Beck said. "That is what he needs to do to help the team and give us that energy and emotion because he really gets this team up. He had some good plays down the stretch. He is a talented player and glad to have him. If he plays that hard every game, we are going to be in the games."
Robinson and Cruz were the only Cougars to finish in double figures. Cruz pitched in 13 points, while grabbing nine rebounds in the win.
Northeast had three players in double figures. Zach Towle, Dol Kutey and Thomas Colbert all had 11 points. Towle had three 3-pointers for the Hawks, including two late back-to-back treys.
WNCC will next be in action Tuesday night as they host McCook Community College at 7:30 p.m. The women's game will precede the men's contest at 5:30. The McCook game is also Hoops For Hunger night as individuals who bring a non-parishable food item will get $1 off their admission.
Beck said Tuesday's contest will be a battle for sub-region seedings. McCook defeated North Platte last week.
"This is one of the biggest points in our season so far. McCook will come in fired up because we were able to get one on their home floor," he said. "They are talented and they have good guards, they have athletic posts. They are going to try to attack us with their quickness. We just have to play our game Tuesday night as well against North Platte. We can't fall subject to quick shots. We need to run our offense and execute, and we have to box out. I think ball pressure has been a big key for our wins lately, and we have to keep doing that."
Northeast (12-14) 21 32 -- 53
WNCC (16-10) 31 26 -- 57
NORTHEAST
Brad Pieper 6, Zach Towle 11, Matthew Julkes 3, Nicholas Mabbutt 3, Dol Kutey 11, Jayvin Stevens 8, Thomas Culbert 11.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Geoffrey Firmin 2, Andre Marone 4, Saul Torres 2, O'Rion Hughes 3, Joe Stock 3, Francisco Cruz 13, Brylle Kamen 8, Geddes Robinson 17.
No comments:
Post a Comment