CHEYENNE, WY – It took a few rallies but the Laramie County Community College men's basketball team was able to fight their way to a 92-88 win over the defending Region IX Champion Trinidad State College Trojans on Friday night in the Thanksgiving Classic presented by Little America.

The Golden Eagles were able to keep pace early on, trading runs with Trinidad State in the first four minutes, but out of the media time out, the Trojans ran off an 11-2 run thanks to three straight threes from Jack Kingswood. That put the Golden Eagles down 22-10 and forced a timeout from Saulsberry.

LCCC responded perfectly out of the media timeout and went on a 12-0 run keyed by a pair of steals and transition offense led by Andre Bennett.

From tied at 22, the two teams began to slug it out with five lead changes going into the final four minutes and Trinidad State leading 28-27 on their efforts inside.

The Golden Eagles had the slight edge going down the stretch and took the lead back with a 10-5 run to take the 37-33 lead into the locker room.

In the second, the Trojans began to heat up again and once more took the lead back thanks to work from Lateef Patrick, who took over in the second half with a 20-point performance to lead the charge, but after taking the lead, both sides dug in.

For the final 16 minutes, neither team was able to build the lead to more than two possessions in a see-saw affair. Phoenix Bullock also took over for LCCC in the second half. 20 of his 22 points in the game came in the final 20 minutes.

It wasn't Bullock's scoring though, but his passing that was the difference. With 17 seconds left in the game, TJ Coulter was given the ball on a drive to the lane by Bullock and it resulted in an and-one free throw that gave the Golden Eagles a 91-88 lead.

A shot was left short by TSC on the other side of the court and Kevin Sylla closed it out with a final free throw to make it a 92-88 lead and seal the third straight win for the Golden Eagles.

The LCCC attack was led by the 22 points from Bullock, with Coulter adding 21 more. Davion Butler finished with 14, Brevin Phillips had a strong first half for 13, and Kevin Sylla was the fifth Golden Eagle in double digits with 11.

Bullock added another nine rebounds and three assists to his tally and Coulter showed off his skill on defense with three blocks and a steal.

As a team, the Golden Eagles only had 10 turnovers on the night and were plus-11 in that category, making up for being outrebounded 44-33. The LCCC offense also took good advantage of their free throws, making 75 percent of them.

The Thanksgiving Classic continues tomorrow with another pair of men's games. Gillette College will take on Trinidad State tomorrow at 1:00 pm before the LCCC men face of with Northeastern Junior College at 5:00 pm to close out the Classic. Gillette defeated Northeastern 94-75 in the other men's game on Friday.

More information including streaming information can be found at www.golccc.com.