MCCOOK, Neb. – The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team buried 18 3-pointers enroute to a 102-83 win over McCook Community College in a Region IX South Sub-region contest Tuesday in McCook.

                The win was the Cougars second straight and moves them to 7-12 overall but, more importantly, to 2-1 in the sub-region and just a half game out of first place. North Platte Community College, the Cougars' Friday opponent in North Platte, leads the South sub-region at 3-1.

                McCook, playing without three starters because of the flu bug, dropped to 9-12 overall and 1-3 in the sub-region.

                Other Region IX scores on Tuesday saw North Platte down Northeastern Junior College 81-68, Lamar top Trinidad State 90-85, and Central Wyoming earn a win over Northwest 55-52.

                Tuesday's contest was a battle from the get-go. McCook's largest lead of the game came at eight points when the Indians led 22-14. The Cougar's largest lead until midway through the second half was six points on several occasions.

                The Cougars led 6-0 to start after back-to-back 3-pointers from Elijah Hollins and Reece Randolph. WNCC led later 12-6 on 3-pointers from Reece and Elijah Burney. McCook would then go on a 12-0 run to take a 22-14 lead.

                WNCC wouldn't retake the lead until late in the half when Noah Jones made five straight points and the Cougars led 33-31. WNCC would go up by six points once again at 39-33 on back-to-back triples from Randolph. McCook would score six points to close out the first half while holding WNCC scoreless in the final minute. The two teams were deadlocked at 39-39 entering halftime.

                The second half saw McCook take the lead only twice. The first time at 46-45 and the second time at 48-47 in the first four minutes. After the first media timeout, WNCC went one a 6-0 run. The 6-point lead wasn't big enough as McCook came back and tied the game at 53 and 56. That was the last time the game would be tied as WNCC went on a 17-6 run to go up by double digits at 73-.62 on a Randolph triple.

                McCook got the Cougar lead down to single digits just once, 87-78, but the Cougars answered with another 6-0 run for a 93-78 lead. The Cougars ended the game holding McCook scoreless in the final three minutes. WNCC ended the game on a 9-0 run.

                The Cougars shot 40 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point land. The Cougars were also 24-of-28 from the charity stripe. WNCC ripped off 18 3-pointers, which was the most triples as a team since they hit 19 threes against McCook in 2019.

                Randolph had the hot hand, leading the Cougars in scoring with 26 points and six 3-pointers. Kellon Harris and Elijah Hollins each had three triples. Harris tallied 21 points in the contest.

                Three other players had double figures as Mathiang Maker tallied 19 points, Hollins had 17, and Jones had 10 points.

                WNCC's defense held McCook to 47 percent shooting, but only 5-of-22 from the 3-point arc. The Indians were also 18-of-29 from the charity stripe.

                WNCC won the rebound battle 46-40 behind Maker's 10 rebounds, while Hollins pulled down eight.

WNCC (7-12)                 39 63 – 102
McCook (10-11)           39 44 – 83
WNCC
Reece Randolph 26, Kellon Harris 21, Elijah Hollins 17, Mathiang Maker 19, Elijah Burney 6, Noah Jones 10, Toms Linis 3.
MCCOOK
Nate Coley 16, Dave Olantyl 11, Vladimir Brkovic 3, Jason Robinson 17, Meek Ater 11, Marial Diper 5, Da'Shawn Hall-Johnson 20.