The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team received 14 points from Zach O’Callaghan and the Cougars buried 12 3-pointers on the night in holding on for a 75-70 South Sub-region win over North Platte Community College Thursday night at Cougar Palace.
The win moves the Cougars to 12-9 on the season and 3-2 in sub-region play while North Platte falls to 9-10 overall and 0-5 in the sub-region.
WNCC coach Billy Engel said his team played well enough to get the win.
“It was nice to see some guys hit some shots and nice to see some guys take some pride defensively, especially in the first half and then for a good run in the second half early. That was something that we really, really needed,” Engel said. “We are glad to finally see our guys take some pride on the defensive end. We might have gave up too many offensive rebounds and down the stretch we got a little lackadaisical and gave up some easy ones, especially to some good players. But, we made enough plays and enough shots to seal the deal.”
Engel said O’Callaghan’s performance was huge, especially since he led the team with four 3-pointers for the 6-foot-9 post player out of Florida. O’Callaghan also had three assists and four rebounds on the night.
“Coming into a game you kind of have an ideal of what a kids’ strengths are going to be. Him coming in as a stretch five that really can shoot it is what we were looking forward with him,” Engel said. “It was nice for him to go 4-for-4 and raise that percentage. That is something that we want to continue to be a threat there. Percentages always don’t mean everything and hopefully that confidence carries over for him.”
The first half was a game of runs with just two lead changes. WNCC opened the contest with three straight 3-pointers for a 9-0 lead on two O’Callaghan treys sandwiched in the middle by a CJ Johnson 3-pointer.
WNCC’s 9-0 lead soon evaporated as the Knights got hot on three 3-pointers of their own by Bruce Carpenter, Davion Evans, and Sam Lootens. The Knights would hold the Cougars scoreless for nearly five minutes as they raced on a 17-0 run to lead 17-9.
North Platte led 21-11 on a Carpenter bucket when the Cougars decided to get hot once again, going on their longest run of the night, a 16-2 barrage that included two more 3-pointers by O’Callaghan and a trey by Daniel Bula. The run was capped off by Johnson scoring seven straight including a trey for a 33-23 lead with about five minutes to play. The Cougars led at halftime 38-28.
The second half saw two runs that made the came close. The Cougars led 44-32 before North Platte ran out to 9-0 run to slice the Cougar lead to three, 44-41. WNCC stopped the run on a Maurice Walker bucket and that started an 11-0 run for the Cougars that included back-to-back 3-pointers by Walker and Ahmari Samuel for a 55-41 lead.
North Platte kept fighting as they went on a 14-3 run to cut the deficit to three, 60-57 with 6:40 to play. The Cougars stayed strong as they continued playing strong defensively. WNCC led 70-65 with about a minute to play on a Carl Thorpe bucket. North Platte came back with two free throws by Carpenter to make it 70-67 with 50 seconds to play. Biko Johnson buried a 3-pointer with 25 seconds to play to make it a 5-point lead, but seven seconds later, North Platte’s Kayden Crosby hit a trey to bring the Knights to within 73-70 with 18 seconds left.
CJ Johnson was then fouled with 11 seconds to play and hit both charity tosses. North Platte missed a 3-pointer and WNCC got the rebound and ran out the clock for the win.
WNCC shot 47 percent from the field and were 12-of-23 from beyond the arc. WNCC was also 13-of-17 from the free throw line.
North Platte shot 37 percent from the field and were 9-of-27 from the 3-point arc. The Knights were 15-of-19 from the free throw line.
North Platte out-rebounded the Cougars 38-36. Biko Johnson finished with eight rebounds while CJ Johnson had seven.
WNCC had five players in double figures. Daniel Bula led the way with 15 points followed by O’Callaghan’s 14. Biko Johnson and Thorpe each had 11 while CJ Johnson tallied 10.
North Platte had three in double figures. Carpenter led the way with 19 points with three 3-pointers. Evans had 18 points while Ramiah Adedigba had 15 points.
WNCC will have the weekend off before they hit the road for a weathered out game in December with Laramie County Community College on Monday. The women’s game begins at 5:30 p.m. while the men’s game starts at 7:30 p.m. The game Monday will be played at Storey Gymnasium in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
NPCC (9-10) 28 42 – 70
WNCC (12-9) 38 37 – 75
NORTH PLATTE
Davion Evans 18, Ramiah Adedigba 15, Antwone Gonzales 3, Kayden Crosby 8, Bruce Carpenter 19, Sam Lootens 3, Emmanuel Oladeru 4.
WNCC
CJ Johnson 10, Dimitrije Nikolic 4, Biko Johnson 11, Carl Thorpe 11, Ahmari Samuel 3, Daniel Bula 15, Enzo Clouvel-Urie 2, Maurice Walker 5, Zach O’Callaghan 14.
