MCC Men host Lancers Saturday in tournament
The McCook Community College men’s basketball team will host Eastern Wyoming Saturday for the first round of the Region IX basketball tournament.
MCC finished the regular season 17-13 overall and fourth in the Region IX South standings at 7-7. The Indians are one of three teams in the south hosting first-round games this weekend. MCC will play fifth-seeded Eastern Wyoming (4-8) from the Region IX North division at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center.
Eastern Wyoming (7-23) was one of three teams tied for fifth place in the north standings but won the tie-breaker over Western Wyoming and Central Wyoming. The Lancers came on strong in February with wins over the top two teams in the north. MCC Coach Dillon Hargrove is expecting a different team than the one the Indians swept in the early part of the season.
"They’ve definitely improved over the course of the year,” said Hargrove. “They nearly swept Laramie County and that’s a team that won the north,” said MCC Coach Dillon Hargrove. The Lancers lost 84-83 to LCCC on Feb. 28.
“They’ve changed their offense a little bit and added a really good shooter to their starting lineup,” said Hargrove. MCC was missing two players because of injuries last weekend, but he’s expecting at least one to return when the Indians tip it off Saturday at 3 p.m.
In the south division, Northeastern Junior College (11-3) won the regular season and receives a first-round bye. Second place Lamar (10-4) will host the north’s seventh-place team, Western Wyoming (4-8). Third place North Platte (9-5) will host Central Wyoming (4-8).
In the north, Laramie County Community College (9-3) finished first and receives a bye into the second week of the Region IX tournament. No. 2 Northwest College will host the south’s seventh-place team, Western Nebraska (5-9). Third place Casper College (7-5) will host No. 6 Southeast Community College (5-9). Fourth place Gillette College (6-6 hosts) the south’s fifth-place team Trinidad State (6-8).
THE 2025-26 SEASON: The Indians got off to a 10-3 start which included a 6-0 record against teams from the Region IX North. MCC went 2-0 against Eastern Wyoming and Laramie County Community College and in the Battle For The Boot in Twin Falls, Idaho had wins over Casper College and Western Wyoming. The Indians finished off the pre-holiday schedule in December with a 96-91 overtime loss to No. 1 Snow College in the Las Vegas Tarkanian Classic and an 80-74 loss to Salt Lake Community College.
For the first time ever, all the games after Jan. 1 were games against Region IX South teams. MCC went 3-4 in January and 4-3 in February. This year MCC went 8-5 in the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center.
THE INDIANS average 86.3 points per game (best in Region IX South) and give up an average of 81.0. They average 40.4 rebounds and 17 assists per game. Their opponents average 35.8 rebounds and 15.3 assists. MCC shot 49.0 percent from the field this season – best in the region – 34.4 percent from the 3-point line (second) and 70.4 percent from the free-throw line. Their opponents average 43.9 percent shooting from the field, and 33.2 percent from the 3-point line.
Freshman Djibril Diawara (Aulnay-sous-Bois, France) led MCC and all Region IX south players in scoring this season averaging 20.9 points per game, 3.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.7 steals. He made 101 shots from the 3-point line this season (third most in the country). He shoots at a 36.5 percent rate from distance and 88.0 percent from the free-throw line, which was best in the region and 11th in the nation.
Sophomore Nate Coley (Little Rock, Ark.) topped the 1,000 point mark of his career last weekend against Trinidad State and the two-year starter averages 18.6 points per game, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals. He was third in the region in scoring and second in steals with 52 and assists with 135. He shot 83.3 percent from the line and got to the free-throw line 246 times this season – more than any player in NJCAA D1. His 205 made free throws also are tops in the nation.
Sophomore Mo Diao (Darkar, Senegal) averages 11.8 points and led the Indians on the glass averaging 7.7 rebounds per game – which was also tops among all Region IX south players. He had 66 blocked shots this season – tops in the region. Redshirt freshman Alier Alier (Bor, South Sudan) averages 9.9 points and 6.3 rebounds. Diao and Alier both missed games last Friday and Saturday but there is promising news on the injury front.
“I expect us to be closer to being completely healthy,” said Hargrove. “We’ve brought Mo back slowly and it looks like he’s going to be able to go Saturday. He practiced well all week and just has to get back in shape,” said Hargrove. “Alier Alier will probably be a game-time decision.”
Sofiane Benragba (freshman, Montpellier, France) averaged 7.1 points and 4.3 rebounds and shot 46.3 from the 3-point line. Sophomore Lukas Gudavicius (Palanga, Lithuania) averaged 6.5 points and 5.3 boards per game.
EASTERN WYOMING BY THE NUMBERS: Eastern Wyoming averages 77.0 points per game, shoots 44.8 percent from the field, 35 percent on the 3-ball, and 71.8 percent from the free-throw line. The Lancers average 32.3 rebounds.
Eastern Wyoming went 2-13 in away games this season. They started the season going 2-15 in November and December. To start the Region IX North schedule the Lancers went 1-5 in January then won three of five games in February, including wins over Northwest College, LCCC and Western Wyoming, before closing out the season with a 95-89 loss to Gillette and the 84-83 loss to LCCC.
Freshman guard Drezdon Jensen leads the team, scoring 14.6 points per game, Isiah Ayala another freshman guard is second at 11.4 points per game and leads the team with 5.5 rebounds per game.
Freshman Toney Collins shoots the 3-ball at a 38.7 percent clip (third best in the north) and is an 85.5 percent shooter at the free-throw line. He averages 9.3 points per game as does guard Scott Noel, who only played five combined minutes in EWC’s two losses to MCC but he has played his way into a prominent offensive role. Freshman Lorenzo Major Jr. averages 6.3 points per game and was third in the north with 124 assists. Off the bench, treshman Adam Coxon is a 35.7 percent shooter from the 3-point line.
“Right now they’re shooting it really well. They’ve got three guys in Scott Noel, Drezdon Jensen and Adam Coxon that all shoot the 3 very well and have really good guards,” said Hargrove.
THE THIRD TIME: MCC swept the season series with the Lancers, opening the season at home with a 76-61 win and winning a 77-66 decision at Torrington on Dec. 5.
On Halloween night, MCC opened the season with a strong defensive effort, holding the Lancers to 32.8 percent shooting (and just four of 22 from the 3-point line, 18.2 percent). The Indians led 38-24 at halftime and shot 50 percent from the field while dominating the boards 54-32... Djibril Diawara led MCC with 21 points in his first game with MCC. Sofiane Benragba led the Indians on the boards with 10. Vukasin Spasojevic had 11 points for EWC and led in rebounds with 14.
In the December matchup, MCC came out of halftime with a 35-26 lead and went on an 11-0 run early in the second half and held on for the win. Diawara led MCC with 24 points, Alier Alier scored 15 points, Mo Diao had 13 rebounds and Nate Coley dished out 10 assists. The Indians enjoyed a 54-36 rebound edge… Ryan Aye led Eastern Wyoming with 17 points off the bench while Jumarion Weh led the Lancers on the boards with nine.
“They can give teams issues with their offense being five-out and all their running around against bigger teams like ours,” said Hargrove. “Defensively we’re expecting they’ll primarily be man-to-man against us,” said Hargrove.
The Coach said last weekend with the guys who suited up in the must-win game at Trinidad, was a turning point for the team.
“They hadn’t played much together with that lineup, but we felt good about how they came together,” said Hargrove. “So we like where we’re at going into this game. We’re going to have to be able to defend the 3 against them as well as slow them down in transition.”
THE REGION TOURNAMENT: The winner of Saturday’s game advances to the three-day Region IX tournament to be held at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo., March 12-14. Northeastern JC and Laramie County Community College received a bye into the quarterfinals for winning the sub-region titles.
Up-to-date information about MCC men’s basketball including livestream links for home games, schedule, statistics, rosters, photos and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com