Scottsbluff-  Casper College’s Remi Dibo connected on seven first-half 3-pointers and the Thunderbirds shot past Western Nebraska Community College 95-74 Tuesday evening at Cougar Palace.

Dibo finished with 31 points and was aided by Dominique Lee’s 22 points and 12 rebounds as the Thunderbirds improved to 8-2 on the season. The Cougars, who shot just 36 percent from the field and were 19 of 32 from the free throw line, never got in a rhythm as they dropped to 3-4 on the season.

WNCC coach Russ Beck says they were flat against a Casper team that has won six straight games.  “Our execution was very poor tonight,” Beck said. “We didn’t get any post reads and we didn’t work inside out. We settled for bad shots. The more we got down the worse our shot selection got and it was a pretty embarrassing loss in that regard.

The two things that we can control that we were bad at was team boxing out. They had 18 second chance points and we missed 13 free throws. We did get them miss shots especially in the second half, but they would collect the ball after their miss and put the ball back in.”

Dibo was the spark for the Thunderbirds in the first half, burying 7 of 9 3-pointers and collecting 26 of his 31 points. He hit 3 straight treys  after the Cougars sliced the lead to 11-8 and the Thunderbirds never looked back and pushed the lead to 20 points, 41-21, with an 11-0 run highlighted by another 9 straight points by Dibo.

WNCC changed gears and made a run, slicing the lead to single digits at 51-42 with two minutes to play in the first half on a Rich Williams 3-pointer and a Willie Mangum trey.  Casper stopped the run with a bucket by Demetrius Lee, but Cody Johnson closed the half with a 3-pointer for the Cougars, but Casper still led 53-45.

Any hope of a Cougar comeback faded just five minutes into the second half as the Thunderbirds went on a 14-4 run to lead 67-50. After that, each team traded buckets as Casper posted the 21-point victory.

Beck says the late first half comeback was nice, but wasn’t enough. “We did get the lead cut down to 8 at halftime, but then we came out in the second half and started to make some of the mistakes we did in the first half, giving up second chance points and missing free throws,” he said.

Shooting was the difference in the game. Casper shot 57% from the field in the first half compared to 40% for the Cougars…and made 9 treys to 4-11 for WNCC. In the second half, WNCC shot just 23% and were 3 of 13 from the 3-point line. For the game, the Cougars were 7 of 24 from behind the arc.

Cody Johnson finished with a team-high 16 points, including 4 treys, and pulled down 6 rebounds. Quante Cooley finished with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Mangum had 14 points and Charles Ward had 11.

Casper’s Dominique Lee had a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Lew Evans was the only other Thunderbird to finish with double figures, netting 13 points.

WNCC will next be in action this weekend when they travel to Sheridan, Wyo., to face Gillette and Sheridan College in a classic. Beck says the Cougars need to put the loss to Casper behind them and “pull together.

“It is embarrassing to lose to a rival like that on our home floor and I am going to work my tail off to get this team where it needs to be in contention for a Region IX title. We are a long ways from that right now. We just need to focus on this game this weekend against Gillette, see if we can pick up two games on the road and just go from there.”

The Cougars next home game will be Friday, Dec. 7 when they host Northwest Kansas Technical College.

 

Casper (8-2)                       53 42 – 95

WNCC (3-4)                        45 29 – 74

CASPER

Corey Spence 5, Demetrius Lee 1, Nate McGinley 3, Remi Dibo 31, Austin Kofoed 4, Juwan Starks 5, Dominique Lee 22, Richard Smith 4, Mantas Adomaitis 2, Ryan Madsen 3, Lew Evans 13, Trahmier Burrell 2.

WNCC

Tahir Little 5, Zach Clemens 4, Quante Cooley 11, Rich Williams 3, Willie Mangum 14, Isaiah Castellaw 2, Charles Ward 11, Cody Johnson 16, Youssoupha Kane 2, Chad Calcaterra 6.

 

 The last time the Western Nebraska Community College and Casper College men’s basketball teams played it was last March in the semifinals of the Region IX tournament where Casper came back to sting the Cougars 70-68.

Tuesday night, the two squads will hook up once again at Cougar Palace at 7 p.m. with that loss still on the minds of the Cougar faithful.

“It will be a classic battle between WNCC and Casper and it always makes for a good game and a big atmosphere,” WNCC coach Russ Beck said. “We are still a little upset of how our season ended last year so we want to use that game as motivation and set the record for what could be a great season for Western Nebraska.”

This year’s contest will definitely be a battle of teams that have a lot of success going their way. The Cougars, despite posting a 3-3 record, have put up some numbers, averaging 83 points a game. Casper enters with a 7-2 record and is averaging 88 points a game.

Beck said that he has watched Casper several times this season and has a handle on their tendencies.

“We played Casper out in the Jamboree and I have watched them play three or four games now and I think we are familiar with the kind of team they are,” he said. “They are a team that does not run a lot of offensive sets; they rely on ball penetration, kick outs, and their athleticism. They have a really quick point guard that is a transfer from South Plains [Corey Spence]. We need to protect the paint to disallow that initial penetration. The key will be rebounding and turnovers.”

The two squads definitely are equal on the court and one needs to go back to the Region 18/9 Shootout on Nov. 16-17 where Casper and WNCC split contests against the College of Southern Idaho and Salt Lake Community College.

WNCC fell to College of Southern Idaho on Friday 68-67 before coming back to drop Salt Lake Community College 82-76. In the Salt Lake win, the Cougars trailed 37-30 at halftime and then scored 52 second-half points to pick up the big win. Against CSI, the Cougars held a one-point, 35-34, lead.

Casper flip-flopped results against CSI and Salt Lake. The Thunderbirds dropped Southern Idaho 81-76 a day after falling to Salt Lake Community College 84-76. Against CSI, the Thunderbirds had four players finish with double-doubles, led by Remi Dibo with 18 points followed by 15 points each from Jonathan Blythers, Richard Smith, and Spence.

Beck said they played well that weekend.

“We played a good game against CSI and ended up giving up one real late basket and lost by one. I felt like that was a game we should have won,” he said. “We learned from some of our mistakes in that game and beat Salt Lake the next night. On Casper’s side, they lost to Salt Lake but then really got emotionally charged up and beat CSI, who just beat No. 4 Indian Hills at their place [over Thanksgiving]. I kind of like where we are at. I think we can play with anybody. We are our biggest enemies at times and we are the only team that can beat us.”

WNCC is coming off a big win against Western Wyoming a week ago 96-81. WNCC freshman Willie Mangum had the hot hand scoring 30 points. Red-shirt freshman Cody Johnson finished with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Quante Cooley, another freshman, tallied 12 points in the win.

Casper enters the contest on a five-game winning streak after going 3-0 in their Thanksgiving Classic, defeating Rahleighs’ Finest Sports Academy 123-76, Cloud County 87-60, and Lamar Community College 79-65.

Beck said both teams have plenty of talent.

“Casper and us probably have the most height in the region and both teams match up with each other pretty well,” he said. “We just need to keep our tempo and do what we do and be solid defensively.”

Beck said his team has plenty of offensive weapons and what they need to worry about in the team’s second home contest of the season is worrying about their game.

“We are getting better at moving the ball and we have quite a few shooters on this team,” he said. “Last year we had a couple shooters and this year we have maybe four, five or six guys that can shoot the basketball when given an open look. I think the big thing for us is execution and ball movement in making the extra pass. ”

After Tuesday’s contest, the Cougars will hit the road to compete in the Sheridan College Holiday Classic this weekend. The Cougar’s next home game will be Dec. 7 when they host Northwest Kansas Technical College.

DETROIT (AP) – The NFL has decided not to suspend Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh  for his actions against Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub.

League spokesman Greg Aiello announced the decision Monday on his Twitter account, adding the “incident’ will be reviewed for a potential fine.

Suh’s left cleat connected with Schaub’s groin area after he threw a pass in the first quarter of last Thursday’s game. The defensive tackle was on his chest after being taken down by an offensive lineman and extended his left foot to hit Schaub below the belt.

Suh, a former Nebraska Cornhusker, was suspended for two games a year ago after he was ejected for stomping on the right arm of Green Bay offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith during a game on Thanksgiving.

SALT LAKE CITY — The Westminster College men’s basketball team improved its record to 8-1 for the season by defeating Chadron State 94-69 during the second night of its own Thanksgiving weekend tournament here Saturday.

The Griffins shot well, connecting on 56.5 percent (35-62) from the field, including 52 percent (14-27) from 3-point range and 91 percent (10-11) from the free throw line.

Chadron State also did a number of things well, coach Brent Bargen said. The Eagles shot 44.2 percent (23-52) from the field, including 6-11 from the 3-point territory, and 74 percent (17-23) from the charity stripe. “This was our most complete game so far,” Bargen said. “We played a really good team tonight and competed pretty well.  We’ve obviously have a long ways to go, but we’ve got a chance to be a pretty good team if we keep working.”

The Griffins were led by Jake Orchard, a 6-foot-4 senior, with 18 points. Blake Skidmore, a 6-foot junior, added 14 and six assists while Alex Drecksel, another 6-4 senior, added 10 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Chadron State was paced by 6-5 Zac Bargen with 19 points and 11 rebounds, both game highs, along with four assists and three steals. Freshman point guard Justyn Anderson added 14 points and junior forward Grant Stone contributed 12 points off the bench.

The Eagles, now 0-4, will open their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule this weekend by hosting Colorado Mesa and Western State. One of Westminster’s win is a 95-53 decision over Western State.
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