MCCOOK – The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team outscored McCook Community College 51-31 in the second half enroute to an 87-76 South Sub-region win Wednesday night in McCook.
The win moves the Cougars to the middle of the pack in the South Sub-region at 2-4 and 6-16 overall. McCook falls to 3-3 in conference action and 13-9 overall.
WNCC will be back in action Sunday, February 1 when South conference-leading North Platte Community College comes to Cougar Palace for a 3 p.m. contest. North Platte was a 64-60 winner over Northeastern Junior College Wednesday night.
The other south sub-region contest saw Lamar defeat Trinidad State 81-73.
WNCC is now fifth in the south conference while North Platte leads at 5-1 followed by Lamar at 4-1, NJC at 4-2, and McCook at 3-3. Southeast, Otero, and Trinidad State are all behind the Cougars with one conference win.
The North sub-region had three contests Wednesday with Laramie County topping Gillette 93-63, Northwest defeating Casper 77-67, and Western Wyoming nipping Eastern Wyoming 72-61.
Wednesday's contest was a tale of two halves. In the first half, the Cougars made just 2-of-15 3-pointers. The second half, WNCC connected on 8-of-15 triples. WNCC shot 44 percent from the field for the game and were 13-of-23 from the charity stripe.
McCook shot 44 percent from the field and made just 3-of-20 from the 3-point arc while going 23-of-29 from the free throw line.
WNCC never led in the first half and was only tied once with McCook at 2-2. McCook ran out to an 18-6 lead and led by 18 points, 43-25 with about three minutes to play in the opening half. WNCC closed out the half on an 11-2 run that saw Viktor Lukic-Gavric hammer down a thundering dunk and Amare Jackson nailing a clutch 3-pointer. WNCC trailed at half 45-36.
The second half was back and forth with both teams exchanging buckets. McCook led 53-42 and that was when the Cougars buckled down on defense and went on a 13-2 run that saw back-to-back 3-pointers from Xavier Kirkpatrick and Withold Czerenkiewicz. WNCC tied the game at 55 on a Melchi Egbeyemi bucket.
WNCC took the lead at 58-56 on a Toms Linis 3-pointer followed by a Kellon Harris triple to lead 61-56. McCook came back and took a 64-61 lead with about 10 minutes to play. That was when WNCC doubled down on defense, holding McCook to just 12 points the rest of the game. In the meantime, WNCC went on an 8-0 run to lead 69-64 on a Noah Jones 3-pointer and an Amare Jackson dunk.
McCook got to within three points at 77-74 with 4:31 to play and had the Cougar lead down to 80-76 on two technical shots with three minutes to play. McCook would not score again the rest of the contest and WNCC would knock down five free throws to claim the win.
WNCC was led by Lukic-Gavric with 27 points followed by Amare Jackson with 12 and Noah Jones with 11. Lukic-Gavric also had seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals, while Jones led the team with eight rebounds.
WNCC (6-16) 36 51 -- 87
McCook (13-9) 45 31 – 76
WNCC
Viktor Lukic-Gavric 27, Amare Jackson 12, Noah Jones 11, Toms Linis 9, Xavier Kirkpatrick 9, Witold Czerenkiewicz 6, Kellon Harris 5, Isaiah St. Preux 5, Melchi Egbeyemi 3.
Region IX Standings
After Wednesday's Games
South Sub-region
Conf Overall
North Platte 5-1 13-8
Lamar 4-1 10-11
NJC 4-2 12-8
McCook 3-3 13-9
WNCC 2-4 6-16
Southeast 1-3 10-10
Otero 1-3 2-16
Trinidad 1-4 8-12
North Sub-region
Conf Overall
Northwest 4-1 15-8
LCCC 3-1 10-9
W. Wyoming 3-1 10-11
Gillette 2-3 9-11
C. Wyoming 1-3 7-12
Casper 1-3 6-15
EWC 1-3 4-18