Casper College outlasts MCC men 90-84

CASPER, Wyo. – The Casper College Thunderbirds hit 10 free throws in the final two minutes of the game Saturday to hand the MCC men a 90-84 loss. The T-Bird win came in the final game of the Casper Thanksgiving Classic.

“The story of the season so far has been two-minute games,” said MCC Coach Dillon Hargrove. “This one was the same and once again the ball didn’t bounce our way in those last two minutes.”

Casper led at the half 41-40 but the Indians took a six-point lead with 14:00 left. In a game that saw eight ties and 12 lead changes, MCC’s Norris Bourne Jr. (Beaumont, Texas) made a fast-break layup with 2:14 left in the game to close the Indians to 78-76. Casper then made six-straight free throws then hit four of six in the final 27 seconds to fend off the Indians.

“I’m proud of our guys for the way they competed,” said Hargrove. “Casper is a tough team and should compete very well in the Region IX North.”

With the win, the T-Birds improve to 9-2 on the season.

MCC shot 47.1 percent from the field, made 10 of 27 shots from the 3-point line (37 percent) and made seven of 13 free throws (47.6 percent).

“I thought we probably played our best offensive game of the year and finally put together two good halves of offensive basketball,” said Hargrove.

Casper shot 41.5 percent from the field, made 10 of 23 shots from distance (43.5 percent) and went 26 of 34 from the free-throw line (76.5 percent). The T-Birds outrebounded MCC 51-26.

Bourne Jr. led MCC with 21 points off the bench to go along with five boards.

Sophomore transfer Madison Peaster (Little Rock, Ark.) scored 20 points and led the Indians with seven rebounds. Freshmen Da'Shawn Hall-Johnson (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Jason Robinson (Waterbury, Conn.) both scored 10 points.

MCC goes to 5-6 on the season and will play two more Region IX North teams this weekend hosting Laramie County Community College Friday at 7:30 and Eastern Wyoming Saturday at 3 p.m.

“We’ve got to get back to work this week for next weekend at home,” said Hargrove.

Up-to-date information about MCC basketball including livestream links, schedule, statistics, rosters, photos and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com