The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team received 34 points from Mathiang Maker, but it wasn’t enough as Western Wyoming Community College outscored the Cougars 19-8 in overtime to claim the 109-98 win Thursday at Cougar Palace.
                It was the first game back for the Cougars and it was a tale of two halves. WNCC led 22-20 early in the first half, but allowed the Mustangs to score eight straight to grab a 28-22 lead. WNCC had the game tied at 33-33, but Western Wyoming went up by seven, 44-37 and then closed out the first half on a 7-0 run to lead 51-39 at intermission.
                The halftime talk fired the Cougars up as they came out of the lockerroom and went on a 16-0 run that included back-to-back 3-pointers by Elijah Hollins and Toms Linis to take a 55-51 lead. The Cougars held the Mustangs scoreless until Western Wyoming scored just inside the 16 minute mark.
                Western Wyoming led 66-63 when the Cougars went on a 9-0 run that saw Linis hit another triple, The Cougars kept playing tough as they went up 87-83 on five points from Maker. WNCC led 89-86 late in the second half. Western Wyoming made two free throws to cut the Cougar lead down to one. The Cougars answered with one of two free throws with 45 seconds to play. The Mustangs tied the game at 90-90 with under 30 seconds to play. WNCC had one final shot to win the game, but the shot wouldn’t fall, forcing overtime.
                The overtime period saw Western Wyoming make the opening bucket and grab a 98-93 lead. WNCC had the deficit sliced to three at 98-95 on two free throws, but the Mustangs went on a 11-1 run to hold on for the 109-98 win.
                Shooting was the difference in the game. Western Wyoming shot 62 percent from the field and buried eight 3-pointers compared to 42 percent for the Cougars. WNCC made 11 triples. The difference in the game was at the free throw line where the Mustangs were 25-of-27 while the Cougars were just 17-of-25.
                Western Wyoming also out-rebounded the Cougars 44-34.
                Maker finished with a triple-double as he had 34 points, 10 rebounds, and was 12-of-18 from the free throw line. Also hitting double digits was Isaiah St. Preux with 17 followed by Elijah Burney with 13 and Elijah Hollins with 10.
                The games don’t get any easier as the Cougars hit the road for contests against Casper College on Friday and then Gillette College on Saturday.
 
W. Wyoming                   51 39 19 – 109
WNCC                                39 51 8 – 98
WESTERN WYOMING
Gvidas Laurinaitis 3, Jacovey Campbell 18, Trevon Chambers 15, Gediminas Alisas 27, Alvin Cole 6, Kingsley Gyesi-Bisah 2, Amari Westmoreland-Vendiola 16, Yair Abruus 18, Filip Rypdal Overas 4.
WNCC
Kellon Harris 6, Elijah Hollins 10, Mathiang Maker 34, Elijah Burney 13, Toms Linis 6, Reece Randolph 7, Isaiah St. Preux 17, Dorin Nguema 3, Witold Czerenkiewicz 2.
 
WNCC women fall to Gillette by seven
 
                CASPER, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team had a rough day shooting as they suffered a 78-71 loss to Gillette College in the first day of the Region 9 Crossover Classic Thursday in Casper, Wyoming.
                WNCC shot 40 percent from the field but were just 8-of-27 from beyond the arc. On top of that, the Cougars committed 29 turnovers and were outscored by Gillette 9-2 in the final minute of the contest.
                The loss drops WNCC to 12-4 on the season as they have less than 24 hours for their Friday game in the classic when they face Western Wyoming Community College at 1:30 p.m. Western Wyoming won on Thursday against McCook Community College 79-58.
                WNCC trailed 14-12 in the first quarte3r and then outscored Gillette 12-4 to grab a 24-18 lead on a Lidia Hernandez bucket. Gillette closed out the first quarter with five points as WNCC led 24-23.
                The second quarter saw the Cougars only score six points in the first eight minutes as Gillette build a 36-30 lead. The Cougars cut the deficit to one, 36-35 on an Adelina Urtane bucket and trailed 41-39 on two Urtane free throws. Gillette hit a late trey to lead at half 44-39.
                The third quarter saw WNCC trail by 11 points at 57-46 with under three minutes to play. WNCC finished out the quarter, scoring the last 10 points while holding Gillette scoreless as they trailed 57-56 as Hernandez and Laura Montiel each nailed triples.
                The fourth quarter was close as WNCC tied the game at 69-69 on a Zozefine Sipolina bucket with 1:30 to play. Gillette came back and scored seven straight points as they hit 5-of-7 free throws to lead 76-69 and held on for the win.
                WNCC had four players in double figures, led by Urtane with 17 points followed by Hernandez and Sipolina each with 14. Nataly Dunka tallied 11, while Montiel had nine.
               
WNCC                24 15 17 15 – 71
Gillette                23 21 13 21 – 78
GILLETTE
Marija Marinkovic 2, Arna Bright 9, Rochelle Afo-Manuma 7, Kenlee Engelhardt 28, Dasani Nesbit 18, Jada Johnson 2, Danae Asiata 2, Abbie Nickell 8, Andrea Martin 2.
WNCC
Helena Kuck 5, Laura Montiel 9, Adelina Urtane 17, Zozefine Sipolina 14, Nataly Dunka 11, Lidia Hernandez 14, Asia Mitchell 1.