Western Nebraska deals MCC men 74-65 setback

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. – Western Nebraska Community College dealt the MCC men a 74-65 loss Wednesday to complete the season sweep over the Indians.

“Obviously a disappointing night for us,” said MCC Assistant Coach Drake Henderson. “We came out lethargic in the first half and allowed Western to jump out to a 20-point lead.”

The Cougars led from the start of the game and stretched the lead to 37-18 near the four minute-mark of the first half before MCC went on a 15-2 run to trail at half 39-33.

The Indians fought back and took their first lead of the game, 53-51, with a pair of free throws from Djibril Diawara (freshman, Aulnay-sous-Bois, France) with 8:10 left in the game.

“I thought our guys did a good job to cut into it and actually take the lead with and stretch it with about four minutes left in the game.”

MCC extended the lead to 60-54 with 4:35 left to play but the Cougars outscored MCC 18-5 to close out the game.

“Things didn’t go our way late and Western did a good job to capitalize and win the game,” said Henderson.

Western Nebraska shot 37.5 percent from the field, made 11 of 39 triples (28.2 percent) and went nine of 12 from the free-throw line. The Cougars outscored MCC off the bench 25-3.

MCC shot 36.1 percent from the field, made eight of 25 shots from the 3-point line (32 percent) and made 13 of 24 free throws (54.2 percent). The Indians turned the ball over 16 times and were outrebounded 51-42.

“Ultimately we can’t come out and give someone a 20-point cushion to start the game and expect to come back and win,” said Henderson. “We talk as a team about how this time of year is crucial and how every game is important.”

Sophomore Nate Coley (Little Rock, Ark.) led MCC with 22 points. He went eight-for-nine from the free-throw line. Diawara had 13 points and was three-for-12 from the 3-point line.

Alier Alier (Bor, South Sudan) scored 12 points and had eight rebounds. Sophomore Mo Diao (Darkar, Senegal) led MCC with 11 rebounds and had seven points. Sophomore Lukas Gudavicius (Palanga, Lithuania) grabbed nine boards and had eight points.

The Cougars go to 5-7 in the region and 9-19 overall.

MCC goes to 6-5 and 16-11 overall.

Elsewhere around the region. First Place Northeastern JC (9-3, 17-9) was a 70-69 winner home over North Platte (6-5, 14-12). Fifth place Trinidad (5-5, 12-13) beat second place Lamar 90-68 at home. The Lopes fall to 7-4 and 13-14. Seventh place Southeast was an 89-78 winner at Otero.

“We don’t have any time to lick our wounds as we have a really talented NJC coming to our place this weekend,” said Henderson. “We’re going to go back to work and hopefully be ready to go then.”

MCC will host Northeastern JC Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center for the final regular season game of the year. Sophomores will be recognized just prior to tipoff.

Up-to-date information about MCC men’s basketball including livestream links for home games, schedule, statistics, rosters, photos and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com