It is time for post-season basketball and the Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team will be hosting a first-round game on Saturday, March 4 when North Platte Community College comes to Cougar Palace.
The Cougar men earned the No. 2 seed from the South Sub-region with a 6-6 conference record and will host No. 7 North Platte (3-9 conference, 13-15 overall) at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
WNCC enters the tournament with a 15-14 overall record.
The winner advances to the March 9-11 regional tournament held in Casper, Wyoming.
Other men’s Saturday first-round games include Eastern Wyoming College at Laramie County at 4 p.m., Lamar Community College at Northeastern Junior College at 2 p.m., Western Wyoming Community College at Central Wyoming College at 4 p.m., and Otero College at McCook Community College.
Teams with first-round byes on the men’s side include Casper, Northwest College, and Trinidad State College.
The women’s Region IX tournament will be held Cougar Palace as the WNCC Cougar women earned the right to host the tournament and a first-round bye after winning the South Sub-region with a 9-1 record. The Cougars moved to 21-8 overall. The tournament will be held March 9-11 with the winner advancing to the NJCAA National Tournament March 22-27.
Four other teams will join WNCC with first-round byes, including Otero from the South Sub-region and Casper and Northwest from the North Sub-region.
First-round women’s games that will be played Friday, March 3 include Lamar Community College at Trinidad State College at 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 4 games include Central Wyoming at Laramie County Community College at 2 p.m.), Eastern Wyoming at Western Wyoming at 2 p.m., and McCook at NJC at 4 p.m.
The first-round game winners will continue to bracket play at Cougar Palace March 9. The first day of the women’s tournament will have four games at 12:30, 2:30, 5, and 7 p.m. WNCC will play their first game at 7 p.m. Semifinal games are slated for March 10 at 5 and 7 p.m. with the championship slated for March 11 at 4 p.m.
The women’s tournament bracket and information can be found on the WNCC athletic website at www.wnccathletics.com.
