Trinidad State hands MCC men 83-57 loss

Trinidad State downed the McCook Community College men Friday night at the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center, 83-57. The Trojans came into the game locked up as the second seed in next weekend’s opening round of the Region IX tournament.

MCC entered the game battling for seeding with hopes of hosting a first-round play-in game next weekend with a third or fourth seed. Northeastern Junior College was the third seed (6-5), MCC now falls into a three-way tie for the fourth seed at 4-7 in the Region IX South standings, tied with Otero and North Platte. The Knights beat Otero 76-64 Friday. North Platte concludes their schedule at home Saturday against Trinidad while Otero comes to MCC for a 3 p.m. game.

“Credit to Trinidad for being a team that’s already locked in as the No. 2 seed and for us fighting for our lives, I thought they just wanted it more,” said MCC Coach Jacob Brandl.

MCC held a 12-5 lead to start the game and led 28-23 with 3:29 left in the first half but Trinidad State closed out the half on an 11-0 run and took charge of the game early in the second half with a 16-7 run over the first four minutes of the second half.

“They went on that big run and we just collapsed and never recovered,” said Brandl. “This is two games in a row that we haven’t been very good.”

MCC had 18 turnovers while Trinidad had 17 steals.

“That created so many points for them,” said Brandl.

The Trojans took 12 more shots than MCC, and nearly doubled up on the boards taking a 58-30 advantage on the glass.

“We weren’t very tough around the rim and we weren’t good and that’s disappointing when you’re fighting for seeding,” said Brandl.

MCC shot 32.3 percent from the field, made seven of 26 3 -pointers (26.9 percent) and made 10 of 18 free throws (55.6 percent).

Trinidad shot 45.9 percent from the field, made nine of 28 shots from the arc, (32.1 percent) and made six of 15 free throws (40 percent).

Eight MCC sophomores were honored before the game and included: Martel Evans (Omaha Creighton Prep), Kolton Hager (Wallace), Ty Foster (Bronx, N.Y.), Zeki Cavli (Bodrum, Turkey), Ridley Shema (London, England), Thabo Manyere (Auckland, New Zealand), Noah Boyed (Monchy, St. Lucia) and Brandon Kabuya Mpoyi (Paris, France).

Evans led MCC in scoring with 17 points and freshman Louie Tucker (Bristol, England) added 15 points. Mpoyi had eight rebounds to lead the Indians.

“Now we have a quick turnaround and we know Otero is going to be hungry and wants to beat us and if we’re not ready, the same thing is going to happen,” said Brandl.

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

 

Men's Region IX South Standings
                             W-L    PCT.   OVERALL
* Western Neb. 11-1    .917      22-8
Trinidad State    8-2     .800      19-7
Northeastern     6-5     .545      13-13
McCook             4-7     .364       10-19
North Platte      4-7     .364       13-14
Otero JC            4-7     .363       12-16
Lamar CC        1-10     .091        8-21

* Clinched first place and will host the Region IX tournament after the first round

 

REGION IX RESULTS FRIDAY
North Platte 76, Otero 64 (at North Platte)

Trinidad State 83, McCook 57 (at McCook)

 

REGION IX SCHEDULE SATURDAY
Trinidad State at North Platte, 2 p.m.
Otero at McCook CC, 3 p.m.

Lamar at Northeastern, 5 p.m.

 

REGION IX POST-SEASON TOURNAMENT
First Round – March 9 at site of second, third and fourth seeds

Second Round – March 14-16 at Scottsbluff