The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team put five players in double figures and opened the season with a commanding 101-58 win Friday at Cougar Palace over Adams State Junior Varsity.
WNCC head coach Billy Engel said they played well for the most part in getting the win.
"For the most part, I was fairly satisfied with our effort, with our consistency offensively and defensively," Engel said. "We are going to need to see improvements, but in the first official game of the year, for the most part we did what we needed to do tonight. We just need to take it one game at a time and overall I will take it."
What stood out the Cougar men was the offensive stride that they showcased with over 10 dunks and 11 3-pointers, showing that this team had the tenacity to go inside and outside to score points.
"It is nice to have some depth at more positions," Engel said. "We do have some fast guards and have athleticism all over the place. There is some talent that shoot it and score. We had a lot of open looks and we were able to make some highlight plays, so it was good to see our guys do what they are supposed to do."
WNCC scored 56 points in the paint while allowing just 26 points in the paint for Adams State. The Cougars also had 11 treys, led by Dimitrije Nikolic with three and Biko Johnson with two.
WNCC also controlled the glass, winning the rebound category 42-28 while also dishing out 28 steals and collecting five blocked shots.
Rodney Sawyer led the way in rebounding with eight while Johnson had five. Tristin Thomas and Enzo Clouvel-Urie each had six assists, while Sawyer had two blocked shots.
Offensively, Johnson led the offensive attack with 15 points followed by Camryn Dennis, Stephen Ovia, and Daniel Bula each with 14 points. Nikolic had 11 points.
WNCC took control of the game early as they went up 3-0 and then had a 30-2 run to lead 33-5. Adams State JV had three points, but the Cougars went on a 12-0 run to lead 45-8 on a couple dunks.
WNCC led 47-14 with under five minutes to play in the half when Adams State JV scored 13 straight to cut the deficit to 47-27, but Maurice Walker closed out the half with a 3-pointer and a 50-27 lead.
The second half was all WNCC as the Cougars outscored the Grizzlies 51-31. WNCC led 72-38 after two dunks by Dennis and then led 85-40 after a Johnson 3-pointer. ASJV scored six straight, but the Cougars went on a 25-1 run to lead 100-47 as Nikolic buried a three to put the Cougars into the century mark.
WNCC will be back in action next week with two home games when they face Laramie County Community College on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and then the 16th-ranked Seward County Community College on Thursday at 7 p.m.
ASJV 27 31 – 58
WNCC 50 51 – 101
ADAMS STATE JUNIOR VARSITY
Milan Johnson 14, Joey Matejicka 2, Austin Valdez 9, Chris Watkins 2, Dwayne Gallery 5, Cameron Wennberg 2, Jordan McKay 19, Duncan Balatche 5.
WNCC
Tristin Thomas 5, Rodney Sawyer 7, CJ Johnson 5, Dimitrije Nikolic 11, Biko Johnson 15, Carl Thorpe 5, Camryn Dennis 14, Ahmari Samuel 5, Stephen Ovia 14, Daniel Bula 14, Enzo Clouvel-Urie 1, Maurice Walker 3, Zach O'Callaghan 2.