MCC men hold on for first win at Torrington

TORRINGTON, Wyo. – The McCook Community College men picked up their first win of the season Saturday afternoon, holding on for a 65-58 win over Eastern Wyoming Community College.

 

“I’m proud of the way the guys played,” said MCC Coach Taylor Shaffer. “EWC did some things we hadn’t seen before and tried to junk up the game by switching defenses all the time and the guys were able to execute and play together. I’m really proud of our defensive effort and our effort on the glass.”

 

MCC out-rebounded EWC 48-37.

 

The Lancers started strong and held a five-point lead midway through the first half, but MCC went on to take a 31-23 lead at half-time. With 10:56 left to play the Indians held a 45-39, then went on a 12-point scoring run with 4:10 left in the game to go up by 17 points.

 

“I wish we would’ve executed better down the stretch,” said Shaffer. “Instead of finishing the game strong when we were up 17, we became complacent and let them close the gap.”

 

The Lancers closed the gap to four points with a couple late 3-pointers, but the Indians were able win the free-throw game in the final 1:25 of play, despite making just 12 of 20 free throws in the second half.

 

MCC shot 35.5 percent from the field for the game, made five of 19 shots from beyond the three-point arc (26.3 percent), and hit 16 of 29 free throws in the game (55.6 percent).

MCC had a 21-17 advantage in points from turnovers, 32-20 in paint-points, and 12-5 in fast-break points.

 

Four Indian starters reached double-figures in scoring led by sophomore Josue Kangud (Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo) with 13 points along with nine rebounds. Sophomore Justin Rushin (Charlotte, N.C.) scored 12 points with a pair of triples, six steals, five assists and four rebounds.

 

Sophomore Isayah Pankey (Dallas, Texas) and Tymere Singleton (sophomore, Dallas, Texas) both scored 10 points. Pankey tied for team-high assists with five. Singleton collected seven boards.

 

Sophomore Adrijus Janciauskas (Marijampole, Lithuania) led MCC with 13 rebounds and added eight points while freshman Daniel Christou (Perth, Australia) grabbed five rebounds off the bench.

 

EWC goes to 1-3 on the season.

 

MCC, now 1-3, will be on the road for will likely be their most challenging week of the season traveling 1,931 miles and playing four games in five days.

 

On Tuesday, the Tribe travels to Colby for a 7:30 p.m. game then it’s off to Twin Falls, Idaho Wednesday for three games in the Battle for the Boot Tournament on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. MCC will begin the true bracket format with a game against the hosts, North Idaho College. Opponents and times for the final two games will be determined by the bracket.

 

The Indians return home Nov. 17 against Central Community College at 7:30 p.m.

 

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