YUMA, AZ – The final game of the 2024 season left the Laramie County Community College men's basketball looking for a rebound as they headed to the holiday break on the heels of an 85-72 loss to Arizona Western on Friday afternoon to close out the Matador's Christmas Classic.
"I thought we were tired after playing three games in three days," Head Coach DeWayne Saulsberry said. "(Arizona Western) wasn't and we had two really physical games and when you are playing a team that is fresh you are going to give up some things."
LCCC also entered the game with only seven players available to suit up due to injury.
The first four minutes had a familiar feel to it as defense was the main contender on the court. The two teams found themselves tied at six in the first five minutes, but turnovers again would bite the Golden Eagles who allowed a 8-0 run to give AWC a 14-6 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the first half.
"There is no question we are playing hard, but sometimes we don't play with intelligence," Saulsberry said.
Once the ball was rolling, Arizona Western didn't let it slow down. They surged ahead to a 15-point lead with 7:28 remaining and at one point pushed the lead to 19 at 40-21.
Andre Bennett, who had his best game as a Golden Eagles with 14 points, six rebounds and four blocks, kicked off the second half with a three and it seemed like LCCC would be able to strike a few blows.
"(Andre) deserved to have a game like he had. He has done everything right all year long and played unbelievable defense, rebounded the crap out of the basketball. He's don't a lot of good things, so it was good to see him get going and I was really proud of him."
Arizona Western had other ideas though and reeled off another 8-0 run that became a 13-3 run that pushed the lead over 20 points for the first time at 60-38.
The lead hovered there for much of the rest of the game. A late surge of points from Davion Butler and Bennett helped to narrow the gap to 76-63 with 4:47 left, but the pace was slowed down by the Matadors, and they finished out the 85-72 win to drop the Golden Eagles to 6-11 on the year.
LCCC did play the game severely short-handed. Only seven players were able to suit up and four finished in double figures. Phoenix Bullock led the way with 20 and had 12 at the half after going 6-8. He also finished with six rebounds and six assists.
TJ Coulter joined Bennett and Butler with 14 points.
LCCC once again struggled inside with rebounding, giving up a 41-28 difference on the glass.
"Turnovers and offensive putbacks," Saulsberry said when asked what his message to the team was. "They got a lot of points on putbacks, and they were just quicker to the basketball than we were."
The Golden Eagles defense did put up good work though, collecting a team high eight blocks for a season best, including four from Bennett.
The Golden Eagles also had a decent afternoon shooting the ball, making 34 percent from three while making nearly 47 percent of their shots from the field.
"I think we have a lot of good things, a lot of good weapons," Saulsberry said. "This isn't a team that has to rely on one or two people. Hopefully we can get a few more people healthy and we can make a run at this thing like I know we can."
"It is not the record we wanted but my expectations are still pretty high for this team, and I know the expectations they have for each other is pretty high. So, I'd be shocked if we didn't make a pretty nice run at this thing here in the next month."
The men are off for the rest of 2024 and will be back in action on January 10th when they head to Trinidad, Colorado for a final tune-up before conference play against the defending Region IX Champion Trinidad State College Trojans.
More information on this game and the full LCCC schedule can be found at www.golccc.com.