MCC men lose a 100-95 thriller at Trinidad

TRINIDAD, Colo. – The McCook Community College men dropped a 100-95 Region IX road game Saturday at Trinidad State, 100-95. Saturday's loss followed a 100-79 loss against Otero Junior College Friday.

"This was a tough weekend for us as we weren't good defensively in either game," said MCC Coach Jacob Brandl.

"We will get back to the film room and take a look at what we are doing defensively to get back on the right track because giving up 100 on back-to-back nights is unacceptable and not like us," Brandl said.

MCC came out strong and held a nine-point lead, 27-18 with 8:41 left in the first half when sophomore Ezichi Kalu (Lagos, Nigeria) hit a jumper. The Trojans battled back to tie the game 46-46 at halftime.

There were 13 ties and 14 lead changes in the game.

Trinidad State shot 57.8 percent from the field for the game but picked it up shooting 62.9 percent in the second half. They went 13-for-24 from the 3-point line (54.2 percent) and 13 of 19 from the free-throw line (68.4 percent.) The Trojans had 30 rebounds and 11 turnovers.

MCC shot 54.2 percent from the field, made nine of 23 3-pointers (39.1 percent) and went 22 of 27 from the line (81.5 percent). MCC had 33 rebounds and seven turnovers.

Sophomore Damien Perry (Wareham, Mass.) led MCC with 24 points. He went 3-for-7 from the 3-point line, made five of six free throws, and dished out five assists.

Beni Fungula (Stockholm, Sweden) scored 15 points, Ezichi Kalu (Lagos, Nigeria) scored 14 and DaMiene Boles Jr. (Dayton, Ohio) scored 13 points. Freshman Trey Summers (Greeley, Colo.) came off the bench scoring 11 points in 14 minutes. He was two-of three from the arc. D'Andre Dennis (Charlotte, N.C.) came off the bench to lead MCC with six rebounds.

"It was good to see us get our offense going as we had a lot of guys play well on that side of the ball," Brandl said.

The Trojans improve to 8-7, 2-1 in the Region IX standings.

MCC falls to 4-16 and 1-4 in the Region IX South.

The MCC men will be home Tuesday as part of the women's/men's doubleheader against North Platte Community College. The men's game will start at about 7:30 p.m. This will be the annual Blue-Out Night to raise money and awareness for children with disabilities.