MCC men top Western Wyoming; improve to 4-1
TWIN FALLS, Idaho – The McCook Community College Indians wrapped up play in the eight-team Battle For The Boot Saturday, winning the tournament consolation bracket over Region IX north foe Western Wyoming 94-91.
“This was a really great win for us,” said MCC Coach Dillon Hargrove. “Western Wyoming is a well-coached team, and they do really good job at executing on both sides of the ball.”
The Mustangs ran to a 9-0 start in the first 3:27 of the game and led 18-8 at the 12:13 mark of the first half.
“Defensively in the first half we didn’t have our energy up to par in the first 10 minutes, and Western Wyoming did a good job capitalizing on that,” said Hargrove. “I’m really proud of our guys for weathering the storm and executing our adjustments to get back in the game and ultimately win it.”
Western Wyoming maintained a nine-point lead at the 8:28 mark to lead 24-13 before MCC chipped away at the lead. The Indians tied the game at 33 with a 3-point shot by freshman Sofiane Bengarba (Montpellier, France) with 3:20 left in the half. He led the team with 11 first-half points off the bench.
The Mustangs led at the half 44-43 in part because of a 10-for-24 showing from the 3-point line (41.7 percent).
The game remained close throughout the first five minutes of the second half. MCC took over the lead with a 3-point shot by Alier Alier, (6-8 redshirt freshman from Bor, South Sudan) at the 14:13 mark of the second half to put MCC ahead 60-57. It was the only lead change in the game (there were four ties.) Alier’s dunk with 11:03 left in the game put MCC up 68-64.
The Indians took their largest lead of the game on a Benragba dunk with 6:34 left in the game to put MCC up 76-69. The Mustangs were able to cut the gap to 84-83 with 2:49 left but that’s as close as they got.
MCC made 16 of 28 shots in the second half (57.1 percent), made five of 11 triples (45.5 percent) and made good on 14 of 17 free throws.
“This was our best offensive game of the year. We shot 62 percent for the game, 55 percent from 3 with 20 assists, and five guys in double figures,” said Hargrove. Those are unreal numbers.”
The Indians made 12 of 22 shots from beyond the arc and made 22 of 30 free throws in the game. MCC led the rebound battle 34-28.
Alier led the second-half scoring explosion with 19 points, hitting on four of five 3-pointers and led all scorers with 23 points and eight rebounds.
Sophomore Nate Coley, (Little Rock, Ark.) and freshman Djibril Diawara (Aulnay-sous-Bois, France) both poured in 18 points from the guard spots. Coley hit 10 of 12 free throws, dished out seven assists and had five boards. Diawara made four of nine triples and led the Indians with eight assists.
Mo Diao, (sophomore transfer from North Platte, Darkar, Senegal) scored 13 points and had six rebounds. Benragba finished with 16 points and had five rebounds.
The Mustangs go to 2-3 losing in the first round of the weekend tournament to host College of Southern Idaho 81-62 and winning Friday against Columbia Basin (Washington) 71-57.
MCC was able to win two of the three games in Idaho on back-to-back-to-back days and improve to 4-1 on the year.
“I’m really proud of how our guys played this whole weekend,” said Hargrove. “This has been a really good trip for us and they have taken good care of us. We’re happy to be able to experience it, but we’re happy to have a home stand coming up.”
The Indians return home Friday to host Veterans Night for a men’s only game starting at 7 p.m. in the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center. All Veterans and a guest will be allowed in for free admission. There will also be snacks available for them in the VIP room. MCC will honor Veterans throughout the game.
Up-to-date information about MCC women’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