CASPER, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team had a slow start while Laramie Community College started hot as the Golden Eagles advanced to the semifinals of the men’s Region IX Tournament in Casper, Wyoming, with an 88-63 win.
The Cougars end their season at 16-15 while LCCC will move on to play Casper College at 7 p.m. Friday. The other semifinal in the men’s tourney will pit Northwest against Trinidad State at 5 p.m. Northwest won over Lamar Community College while Trinidad State handled Western Wyoming 80-57.
The key to the game was the start or the first three minutes of the game where LCCC went 4-for-4 from the 3-point arc to lead 14-14. LCCC later led 29-11 and went on to lead 51-20 at halftime.
WNCC played much better in the second half as they outscored LCCC 43-37. The second half was a much more physical game. Both Laramie County and Western Nebraska pushed the ball into the paint which led to 41 free throws between the two teams in the final 20 minutes.
LCCC was able to go 61 percent from the charity stripe making 19-of-31 and was able to hold their composure during a few scraps which ended with four technical fouls, including three on WNCC, all of which came in the second half.
The Cougars battled hard in the second half as they got back into the game by slicing the deficit to 14 with about eight minutes to play. LCCC rebuilt the lead back to 20 points and got the 88-63 win.
Biko Johnson was the only Cougar in double figures with 23 points, including going 11-of-14 from the free throw line. Maurice Walker was next in line with eight points followed by Daniel Bula with eight.
WNCC shot just 33 percent from the floor and 23 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-22). LCCC was 53 from the field and 7-of-24 from the arc.
The two teams combined for 60 fouls. LCCC was 19-of-31 from the stripe and WNCC was 22-of-29.
LCCC 51 37 – 88
WNCC 20 43 – 63
WNCC
CJ Johnson 6, Biko Johnson 23, Carl Thorpe 5, Enzo Clouvel-Urie 2, Zach O’Callaghan 4, Dimitrije Nkolic 4, Stephen Ovia 4, Daniel Bula 7, Maurice Walker 9.
