Lamar races to 100-78 win over MCC Men

LAMAR, Colo. – The Lamar Community College Men held McCook Community College to 37 second-half points Wednesday on the way to a 100-78 win in Region IX play.

"This was a tough game for us tonight," said MCC Assistant Coach Drake Henderson. "Credit to Lamar and their coaching staff, they had them ready to play tonight."

The Runnin' Lopes took the lead for good midway through the first half and led MCC at the half 50-41.

"I felt like we couldn't ever get any momentum rolling," said Henderson. "They have a very hostile environment, this is a tough place to play, and I think that played a huge part of it."

Lamar scored 13 points off MCC turnovers in the game.

"We had too many careless turnovers, especially ones that led to easy buckets on the other end for them," said Henderson. "I feel like this game is a little on our staff, we didn't get our guys ready to play in this type of environment or game."

MCC shot 48.1 percent from the field, made five of 25 triples (20 percent) and went 19 of 25 from the free-throw line (76 percent).

Lamar shot 50 percent from the game, made 15 of 36 shots from the 3-point line and outscored MCC by 30 points from the arc. The Lopes hit 13 of 16 free throws.

"Defensively we couldn't stay in front of the ball, which led to open lanes and open 3s," said Henderson.

The Indians were outrebounded 34-25 in the game.

Sophomore Nate Coley, (Little Rock, Ark.) led MCC in scoring with 30 points. He went nine of 14 from the field and 11 of 13 from the free-throw line. Freshman Djibril Diawara (Aulnay-sous-Bois, France) put in 24 points including a four 3-pointers on 13 attempts.

Freshman Alier Alier (Bor, South Sudan) had 10 points and five rebounds. Sofiane Benragba (freshman, Montpellier, France) also had five rebounds.

"We're going to put this one behind us and get ready for a good Southeast team this weekend," said Henderson. "There's no off nights in this league, especially on the road, so we have to be better on Saturday."

Lamar improves to 8-11 on the season and 2-1 in Region IX South.

MCC goes to 12-8 overall and 2-2 in region play.

The Indians will be in Lincoln Saturday to play Southeast Community College (10-8, 1-1) in a game that tips off at 4 p.m. The Indians will be home Jan. 28 to host Western Nebraska (4-15, 0-3) at 7:30 p.m.