NORTH PLATTE – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team received 43 points from Kellon Harris and Elijah Hollins as the Cougars moved to the front of the South Sub-region standings with an hard-fought 101-97 win over North Platte Community College Friday in North Platte.
                The Cougar men got the win by outscoring the Knights 58-48 in the second half as Harris tallied 22 points and nine rebounds while Hollins had 21 points and five 3-pointers.
                The Cougars moved to 8-12 on the season but more importantly they are 3-1 in the South Sub-region while North Platte drops to 3-2 and is tied with Lamar and Northeastern Junior College for second place.
                WNCC finished the game with five players in double figures. After Harris and Hollins, Mathiang Maker had 18 points while Toms Linis and Elijah Burney each had 10.
                WNCC head coach Roybell Baez was pleased with how his team stayed in the game and got the win.
                “I thought our guys were just tough tonight,” Baez said. “Got down 14 twice and we just kept responding. We have guys who are finally buying in to team and teammates and it’s showing on the floor. We’re really young so it’s expected. Just praying we can continue to get better.”
                The first half saw the Cougars trail by 14 points twice, the final time at 45-31. Being down by that margin, what was key in the comeback was allowing the Knights the biggest run of 8-0 early in the game. Other than that, The Cougars kept the runs to five or less.
                WNCC and North Platte were tied just once in the first half at 3-3. The rest of the time, North Platte held the lead. North Platte led 20-8 after an 8-0 run and led by 13, 35-22 with 7:46 to play in the half.
                A few minutes later, North Platte went on a 5-0 run to take a 45-31 lead. WNCC responded with their biggest run of the game with five straight  to come within 45-36. With 1:49 to play in the half, North Platte built a 49-38 lead. WNCC held the Knights scoreless the rest of the way while getting a 3-pointer by Harris and then a bucket by Noah Jones to trail at half 49-43.
                The second half saw North Platte open with two straight buckets and led by nine at 57-48. WNCC came back to tied the game at 63-63 on a Hollins 3-pointer. The game was tied a couple times after that until the Cougars took their first lead of the contest with 10:09 to play at 72-70 on two Harris free throws.
                The contest stayed tight as the teams were tied at 81. That was when WNCC started to make a run as they went on a 10-2 run that was highlighted by a Maker block and rebounded which resulted in Maker racing down the court for a dunk that enlivened the Cougar bench with 2:45 to play.
                North Platte kept fighting as they sliced the Cougar lead to 94-91 on two free throws. WNCC answered with three free throws of their own and won the game as Maker went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe in the final 15 seconds of the game.
                WNCC shot 48 percent from the field and buried 11 3-pointers. The Cougars were 20-of-29 from the charity stripe.
                North Platte shot 46 percent from the field and buried 12 3-pointers. The Knights were just 13-of-18 from the free throw line.
                WNCC, 8-12, will be back in action next Saturday when they travel to Lamar Community College. The Cougars will then host Northeastern Junior College on Monday, February 10.
 
WNCC (8-12)                 43 58 – 101
North Platte (13-8)     49 48 – 97
WNCC
Reece Randolph 3, Kellon Harris 22, Elijah Hollins 21, Mathiang Maker 18, Elijah Burney 10, Noah Jones 8, Isaiah St. Preux 3, Dorin Nguema 6, Toms Linis 10.