MCC men go OT but fall 102-99 at Western Wyoming

STERLING, Colo. – The McCook Community College men lost in overtime 102-99 to Western Wyoming Saturday in the Region IX North/South Crossover Challenge, hosted by Northeastern Junior College.

“If we get one rebound at the end of regulation we probably with the basketball game,” said MCC Coach Jocob Brandl. “But we always give ourselves a chance and we kept battling.”

There were 13 ties in this game with 16 lead chances.

MCC led by 14 at the 14:19 mark of the first half.

“Our guys came out ready to play. We jumped right out on them early and they weren’t ready for our intensity and how we were going to play,” said Brandl.

Western’s biggest lead of five came at the 16:35 mark of the second half.

“They made their runs and we didn’t do a very good job of answering those runs when we needed to,” said Brandl. “Credit to them they made plays down the stretch and we didn’t.”

MCC shot 49.3 percent from the field, made 14 of 34 shots from beyond the arc (41.2 percent) and made 19 of 26 free throws (73.1 percent.)

Western Wyoming shot 47.9 percent from the floor, 40.9 from beyond the arc (nine of 22) and made 25 of 28 free throws (89.3 percent.)

Both teams had 32 rebounds, MCC turned the ball over 17 times and WWCC had 15.

“Offensively we were really good today, but defensively we weren’t very good,” said Brandl. “And we just had too many turnovers.”

Sophomore Martel Evans (Omaha Creighton Prep) led five MCC players in double figures scoring 30 points, making nine of 13 shots from the field. Freshman Louie Tucker (Bristol, England) scored 19 points, scoring 15 from the 3-point line where he went five-for-13.

Zeki Cavli (sophomore, Bodrum, Turkey) scored 13 points and was three of five from distance. Sophomore Ty Foster (Bronx, N.Y.) and freshman Bryan Akanmu (Paris, France) both scored 10 points.

“Martel finishes with 30 and does his thing. Zeki and Louie both have great games and Bryan was playing well until foul trouble, and Ty fouled out with six minutes left, and that was a factor,” said Brandl.

MCC got 17 bench points with Ridley Shema (London, England) scoring seven, Kolton Hager (Wallace) scoring six points with four rebounds and Brandon Kabuya Mpoyi (Paris, France) putting in four points.

“Kolton came in and had some big shots down the stretch and Brandon gave us some good minutes,” Brandl said.

Western Wyoming improves to 8-4 on the season.

MCC finishes out the first half of the season at 4-9.

“Definitely proud of the guys but this is a tough one – a game we could have and probably should have won,” said Brandl. “We’re a little hurt from this game going into break but feeling good about the direction we’re going and using this break to get a little healthier and come back stronger.”

MCC’s next game will be Jan. 6 at home against Central Community College. That game is part of a women’s/men’s doubleheader with the women’s game starting at 2 p.m. and the men’s game to follow at approximately 4 p.m.

Up-to-date information about MCC basketball including schedules, statistics, rosters and photos can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com.