WNCC men's basketball team falls to North Platte

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team had North Platte Community College right where they wanted them.

North Platte, however, showed why they are the top team in Region IX with a 24-4 record as they fought back to claim a 67-63 win to secure the No. 1 seed from the East Sub-region. The Cougars, at 17-11, earned the No. 2 seed entering the Region IX tournament, which begins March 5 in Sheridan,Wyo.

“We played pretty good in the first half. I think in the second half we lost a little bit of control. Next game we will get it,” sophomore Geddes Robinson said. “Games like this we should have put them away early and be up by 20 instead of letting it be a close game.”

The Cougars quickly got out of the gate, jumping to an 8-0 lead on a Brylle Kamen offensive rebound and back-to-back 3-pointers by Joe Stock and Francisco Cruz. WNCC pushed the lead to 12-3 on a Robinson driving bucket and a basket by Cruz.

North Platte bounced back, slicing the lead to 15-13 on one occasion before the Cougars cranked it back up to go up 30-21 late in the first half. North Platte didn’t panic as Chase Grabau nailed a 3-pointer and Karol Gruszecki had a bucket to tighten the game up. WNCC went on to lead 34-29 at intermission.

WNCC played well early in the second half as they kept the Knights at bay, taking a 41-32 and held a 51-45 lead with 10 minutes left in the game.

The Knights fought back tying the game at 53-53 with 7:56 left on a Joseph Ragland baseline lay-up. WNCC came right back as Robinson gave the Cougars the lead again. The score was tied a number of times after that. North Platte took their first lead of the contest at 62-61 with 56.8 seconds to play as Rundell Mauge sank one of two free throws.

The Cougars came right back as Cruz nailed two charity tosses with 39.6 seconds to play. After a timeout, Gruszecki drained a 3-pointer from the corner for the Knights biggest lead of the night at 65-63. WNCC called a timeout and a open 3-pointer fell short with six seconds left. Ragland then sealed the game with two free throws with 3.8 seconds.

“We did start strong, but we couldn’t hold them off,” Robinson said. “We need to build a bigger cushion and a bigger lead. We picked up a lot of stupid fouls at the end; a lot of fouls that we didn’t need.”

Cruz and Robinson led the Cougars with 21 and 20 points respectively. Robinson also pulled down 10 rebounds.

North Platte had three players hit double digits. Ragland finished with 23 points, including 9 of 10 from the free throw line. Chase Grabau finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Gruszecki had 13 points.

The WNCC men will look to rebound Sunday and Monday when they finish the regular season. The Cougars will host Northeastern Junior College in a women’s and men’s doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. on Sunday in what is sophomore recognition day. Then, on Monday, the Cougar men will wrap up the regular season when they travel to Eastern Wyoming College for a 7 p.m. contest.

“We are going to be ready to come out and play a pretty good game [on Sunday] and have more intensity,” Robinson said. “Sometimes I think a loss is good for us that way we can it can pick us back up and make us more hungry. We are taking more baby steps toward a bigger goal. We lost to them by 20 points last time and this time we lost by four, so that is pretty good for us.”

North Platte (24-4) 29 36 – 67

WNCC (17-11) 36 27 – 63

NORTH PLATTE

Dorian Williams 3, Joseph Ragland 23, Brenton Brown 5, Chase Grabau 14, Jordan Weatherford 5, Karol Gruszecki 13, Rundell Mauge 4.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Geoffrey Firmin 5, Saul Torres 4, O’Rion Hughes 2, Joe Stock 6, Francisco Cruz 21, Brylle Kamen 5, Geddes Robinson 20.