Free shooting proved to be the difference as the Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team dropped the conference opener to Otero College 112-105 Friday night at Cougar Palace.

                WNCC will look to get back on the winning track when they host Trinidad State on Saturday at 3 p.m.

                Friday's contest saw three Cougars score 20-plus points. Mathiang Maker tallied 28 points  while Elijah Hollins had 24 points with five 3-pointers, and Elijah Burney had 21 points.

                The difference in the contest came down to free throw shooting, especially in the second half. Otero went 22-of-24 from the charity stripe while WNCC was just 20-of-31.

                The first half was a back-and-forth contest with neither team getting more than a 2-point lead until with under 10 minutes to play when the Cougars trailed 23-18 and then went on a 10-0 run to lead 28-23. The lead didn't last long as Otero came back to take a 39-32 lead and led 45-40. WNCC would get a late bucket my Hollins to trail 47-45 at halftime.

                The second half saw the Cougars start the half with a 10-4 run and lead 55-51. WNCC led 61-58 and that would be the last time they led as Otero took a 64-61 lead. The Cougars did have the game tied at 70-70 on a Burney bucket with 11:44 to play.

                The Cougars kept battling, but Otero led 78-72 and then led 97-88 with 4:01 to play. WNCC kept battling as they trailed by six on several occasions. The Cougars trailed 103-97 on a Reece Randolph 3-pointer with 47.9 seconds to play. The Rattlers would then hit clutch free throws down the stretch to get the win.

Otero                   47 65 – 112
WNCC                45 60 – 105
WNCC
Reece Randolph 15, Kellon Harris 7, Isaiah St. Preux 5, Elijah Hollins 24, Mathiang Maker 29, Elijah Burney 21, Witold Czerenkiewicz 5.