WNCC basketball teams post wins in Colby

Submitted by Star-Herald Sports Reporters Jeremy Woznick and Kevin Klaman

COLBY, Kan. - The Western Nebraska Community College men's and women's basketball teams rolled to victories Friday in the second day of the Ambassador Classic in Colby, Kan.
The men knocked off Ft. Scott Community College 63-58, while the women dropped Colby Community College 69-48.

The Cougar men had four players score in double digits, paced by Kelvin Franklin's 12 points. Drew Eisinger added 11 and also grabbed six rebounds, while Daniel Smith and Deivadas Busma both tacked on 10 points. Chris Hamblin collected five rebounds and Greg Hinkle finished with four.

The victory improved the Cougars' record to 4-0 on the season.

"It was a back and forth first half and we had a decent run to take the lead at halftime," said WNCC coach Brian Joyce, who went over the 100-win mark after posting the 100th win of his coaching career on Thursday. "We stretched it out to 10 in the second half before they rallied on us and took the lead with about four minutes to go. Then we just made a few plays down the stretch to win an ugly game.

"It's tough to beat any Kansas team in Kansas. We just kind of gutted it out at the end. I thought the guys showed a lot of poise down the stretch."

The Cougars hit 24 of 55 from the field and 4 of 8 from the 3-point line. The team also connected on 10 of 19 from the charity stripe. WNCC led 33-30 at the half.

The women improved to 3-2 on the season as they put three players in double figures in their win over Colby. Dana Iverson scored 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. SeLina Ysac and Jena Colwell also put up 12 points for the Cougars. Ysac also led the team with six rebounds.
Emma Beddome added eight points, five rebounds and five assists.

"It was a better team effort all around," WNCC assistant coach Jennifer Pedersen said. "Our defense was pretty strong tonight. We stayed pretty consistent. Colby is a good 3-point shooting team that'll try to score you out of the game. We did a good job of controlling that."

Pedersen said the strong defense and a quick start gave the Cougars the advantage early. "I think we had 10 points before they scored their first," she said. "We were up 12-2 early and never looked back."

WNCC never trailed in the game, going into halftime with a 29-17 lead. The Cougars connected on 80 percent from behind the arc in the first half. That average slipped to 63 percent at the end of the game. The team shot 40 percent from the field and 58 percent from the free-throw line.

The women will return to the court today at 11:30 a.m. against Dodge City Community College.
The men will finish the tournament at 5:30 p.m. against Neosho County Community College.

WNCC men (4-0) 33 30 - 63
Ft. Scott 30 28 - 58
Kelvin Franklin 12, Drew Eisinger 11, Deivadas Busma 10, Daniel Smith 10, Lloyd Hickinson 5, Tearon Hill 5, Doradji Wilson 3, Jamie Eisinger 2, Chris Hamblin 2, Greg Hinkle 2.

WNCC women (3-2) 29 40 - 69
Colby 17 31 - 48
Jena Colwell 12, Dana Iverson 12, SeLina Ysac 12, Emma Beddome 8, Carly Glisan 7, Cheri Palmer 6, Alison Cheney 4, Tawny Drexler 4, Shaquilah Davis 3, Michelle Lighthall 1.

Joyce registers 100th win as head coach

Western Nebraska Community College men's first-year head coach Brian Joyce is starting just his fifth year as a junior college head coach. But, on Thursday, Joyce achieved one of many milestones in his coaching career -- he collected his 100th coaching victory.

The Cougars gave Joyce the achievement with a 77-72 win over Colby Community College in the first-day of the Ambassador Classic. In the game, Daniel Smith poured in 25 points. At one time, WNCC held leads of 20 points before watching Colby comeback late.

Joyce now has a 100-37 record as a head coach. He served as Northeastern Junior College's head coach for four seasons -- 2002-2006. Last season he spent one year at Colorado State as an assistant before taking over the program at WNCC this spring.

The Cougars, who are 3-0 on the season, will try to stay unbeaten on the season with two more games at the Ambassador Classic in Colby, Kan., -- Friday against Ft. Scott and Saturday against Neosha. The Cougar men's next home games will be the Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 23-25 when they play Eastern Wyoming, Western Wyoming and Buckley Air Force Base.