GILLETTE, WY – The Laramie County Community College men's basketball team kept up with the top seeded Trinidad State College Trojans on Thursday afternoon until the defending Region IX Champions fell off the pace, dropping the Region IX Quarterfinal game 95-69 in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.

"Overall, for 32 minutes we were in the game," Head Coach DeWayne Saulsberry said. "Just the fact the Phoenix wasn't there ended up coming back to bite us. When I have (Phoenix, Davion, and TJ) in there we are pretty good. With one of them out and when one doesn't have a good game, we just couldn't stay up on it."

LCCC opened the game by showing their skills on the defensive side, holding the Trojans to just 14 points through the first eight minutes and after taking their first lead of the game at 6-4 on a TJ Coulter three, they pushed the lead up to 19-14 with 11:40 remaining.

The offense for the Golden Eagles began to dry up though and Trinidad began to creep back into the game. An 11-0 run put the Trojans up 26-21 with 6:32 to go and it was a lead they wouldn't look back on.

By the time the half rolled around, LCCC had been able to find their stroke again to stop the run, but the lead was 41-35 going into the locker room.

Both teams struggled to score in the opening minute of the second half until a three from Trinidad State broke the seal and gave the Trojans a game high lead of nine.

An 8-2 run keyed by Jace Beidleman and Coulter trimmed the gap back to 46-43 but the Trojans didn't panic and answered with a 6-0 run of their own to push the lead back to nine. The pace quickened after the run and TSC took advantage of it by pushing the lead to double figures, going up 60-47 with 12 minutes left.

The next four minutes changed the script a bit and the momentum. The Golden Eagles dug back in and went on a 15-8 run to close to within two possessions at 68-62.

"Despite the score, I think we are very, very close to Trinidad," Saulsberry said. "We beat them twice this year. I knew it would go back and forth, and I thought the team that would win it would have a ten-point run, and they had that run. When you are really close to a team sometimes it comes down to who has that spurt."

With about five minutes left, Trinidad regained their posture and were able to extend the lead back to ten with 5:11 remaining, going up 76-66 with electric offense, pulling ahead despite a stretch that saw Aeremiah Binford go 6-7 from the field and carry the weight.

Turnovers and fouls began to mount for LCCC in the final minutes and the lead continued to balloon away from them.

A three from Davion Butler with three and a half minutes left would be the only field goal for LCCC in the final five minutes of the game with the Trojans closing on a 19-3 run to close out the game on the way to the 95-69 win in the quarterfinals.

Binford had a career-high 20 points in the game while shooting 66 percent from the field. He added six rebounds and a pair of assists.

"Last night was the player that we recruited," Saulsberry said. "When you have a very serious injury as he had and it's your leg where you actually have to jump, having the confidence to actually jump on it, I think he started to figure it out the last two or three games."

Coulter finished with 19 points along with five rebounds and Butler saw his career end on a 14-point effort to go with four assists and a steal. Butler caps his career off with 101 steals and over 900 points.

The Golden Eagles were playing without Phoenix Bullock in the game and showed in the rebounding stats where LCCC was outrebounded 49-36. LCCC did have a great night blocking inside with seven team blocks including a career high three from Beidleman.

Saulsberry said missing Bullock was a key in terms of the presence he has.

"It definitely hurt us and I thought Trinidad State took advantage of that."

With the loss, LCCC's season ends with a final record of 12-20, going 4-8 in Region IX play. Only three sophomores will be graduating from the roster, so there is potential for a strong core of returners to join the incoming freshman class.

Keep an eye out for more information on the recruiting track and players signing on to the next level by following along with LCCC athletics on social media or at www.golccc.com.