GILLETTE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College and Miles Community College men's basketball team had a high-scoring contest Saturday on the final day of the Holiday Inn Express Classic in Gillette, Wyoming, where the Pioneers scored 69 second-half points to earn the 123-113 win.

                WNCC drops to 4-8 on the year and will wrap up the first semester on Tuesday when they host Casper College at Cougar Palace in a 6:30 p.m. contest.

                The Cougars shot 45 percent from the field but were just 24 percent from the 3-point arc (9-of-37), while Miles shot 56 percent from the field and were 42 percent from the arc (10-of-24).

                The two teams combined for 236 points, which is the third-highest in WNCC program history. The top combined score was 241 points when Gillette defeated WNCC 127-114 in triple overtime in 2013.

                The two squads also had a combined 11 players in double figures. WNCC had five, led by Isaiah St. Preux with 26, followed by Elijah Hollins with 20. Mathiang Maker had 16 points while Elijah Burney tallied 14, and Kellon Harris had 13.

                WNCC got behind the 8-ball to start, trailing 9-0 and trailed 14-4 moments later. WNCC came back, going on a 14-2 run to grab an 18-16 lead on a Burney 3-pointer. The lead went back and forth.

                WNCC tied the contest at 36-36 on a Reece Randolph bucket, but Miles answered with an 11-0 run to lead 47-36. The Cougars came back with a 14-4 run to make it a 3-point contest at 51-48. Miles led at the break 54-50.

                The second half saw the Cougars come out of the gate red hot, taking a 65-57 lead after back-to-back Hollins' 3-pointers. The Cougars pushed the lead to 12, 71-59 on a St. Preux trey.

                WNCC led by 10 points with about 10 minutes to play at 90-80. That was when the Pioneers went on a 19-4 run to lead 99-94. WNCC battled back to make it a 5-point contest at 107-102 with five minutes to play.

                Miles went on a 10-3 run to lead 117-105 with 2:39 to play and went on to win 123-113.

WNCC (4-8)                    50 63 – 113
Miles (8-7)                        54 69 – 123
WNCC
Reece Randolph 7, Kellon Harris 13, Elijah Hollins 20, Dorin Niguema 8, Toms Linis 7, Isaiah St. Preux 26, Mathiang Maker 16, Elijah Burney 14, Kendrick Preston 2.
MILES
Jace Hill 12, Azenio Cossa 16, Colton Hawkins 18, Mack Page 23, Yohandry Ortiz 28, Donnie Haney 6, Randy Otieno 20.