MCC men dominate second half in win at TSJC

TRINIDAD, Colo. – The McCook Community College men played a dominating second half Saturday on the way to a 103-84 win on the road against Trinidad State College. The win secures fourth place in the Region IX South standings at 7-7 and sews up a home game for the opening round of next weekend’s Region IX Tournament.

MCC and Trinidad entered the game tied with 6-7 records.

“I am really proud of how our guys played today,” said MCC Assistant Coach Drake Henderson. “We knew coming into the game that this was going to be probably our biggest game of the year considering what was on the line with standings and region tournament.”

Trinidad took a 49-43 at the half, but MCC outscored the Trojans 60-35 in the second half.

“After a tough game last night at Otero, we knew our legs were going to be an issue today, we did a really good job and utilizing the media timeouts and changing our tempo during the game,” said Henderson. I think our guys as a collective unit really stepped up and played their guts out.”

Freshman Djibril Diawara (Aulnay-sous-Bois, France) led MCC with 29 points. He made six of 15 shots from the 3-point line. Sophomore Nate Coley (Little Rock, Ark.) had 27 points, was seven of 15 from the field and made all 12 of his free throws and nabbed eight rebounds. Diawara scored 19 of his points in the second half and Coley scored 18.

“I also want to congratulate Nate Coley, with tonight’s game he has surpassed 1,000 points in his career,” said Henderson.

Sophomore Vladimir Brkovic (Uzice, Serbia) had a season-high 23 points. He was 10 of 13 from the field, and made two of five 3-pointers and eight rebounds. Sophomore Lukas Gudavicius (Palanga, Lithuania) scored 10 points and led the Indians with nine boards. Freshman Justin Neubert (Durango, Colo.) had seven points off the bench.

“I just can’t say how proud of our guys I am, it took every single one of them,” said Henderson.

MCC shot 53.5 percent from the field, made 12 of 28 shots from the 3-point line (42.9 percent) and made 15 of 16 free throws (93.8 percent). The Indians outrebounded the Trojans 31-30 and turned the ball over eight times.

Trinidad State shot 50 percent from the field, made 10 of 26 shots from distance (38.5 percent) and went 16 of 18 from the free-throw line.

Trinidad State finishes at 6-8 and 13-16 overall.

MCC goes to 7-7 and 17-13 overall.

“We’re going to come back home and rest up and get ready for the region tournament,” said Henderson. “This is the most important time of the year, we’re going to be ready.”

Pairings, game dates and times will be announced early next week.

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