CHEYENNE, WY – The Laramie County Community College men's basketball team was able to rally from down as many as 15 in the first half to take down Eastern Wyoming 87-83 on Saturday night at Storey Gym.

After a quick start that gave them a 7-2 lead just three minutes into the game it looked like LCCC wouldn't have many problems with the Lancers, but EWC responded with a 20-1 run to flip the script and take a 22-8 lead with nine minutes left in the first.

"Eastern was very game tonight," Head Coach DeWayne Saulsberry said. "They gave us a run and we were able to bounce back that second half and win the game."

The Golden Eagles pulled the momentum back and were able to cut the lead back to single digits by halftime at 40-32.

It didn't take long into the second half before Laramie County as able to even the game, tying it at 45 and again at 64 before taking a lead at 65-64 that they wouldn't surrender for the rest of the game.

"We are a super tough team and I know we can't come back in a game straight away, but we take pride in our defense, get stops, and slowly come into the game. It was really big for us," sophomore Ben Hageman said.

The Lancers did use the three ball to keep the game close, cutting the deficit to one or two points several times, but the Golden Eagles shot 50 percent from three and 51 percent from the field in the second half to keep pace and earn the win 87-83.

The LCCC effort was led by Ben Hageman who had a career high 23 points to lead five Golden Eagles in double digits.

"A guy like Ben has been in a lot of basketball games for us," Saulsberry said. "He's just grown from the experiences that he had last year and how he's become a guy that I can depend on. He does a great job of defending and making shots when we need them and a guy that we're going to need going down the stretch."

Hageman said he was encouraged by the confidence his teammates had in him to be more aggressive in the game and take shots he normally may have passed up.

"That helped a lot," he said. "My team has always told me to take more shots but today was just the day I just took those shots."

Brandon Tchouya had 17, Xavier McCord and Tristan Starks both added 14, and Jordan Reed finished with 11, including a clutch three late to give the team breathing room late.

Laramie County had one of their best nights from the free throw line shooting 83.3 percent of the line and force 11 steals and 20 turnovers, 14 of which came in the second half.

"I think (free throws) won us the game," Hageman said. "We've been shooting a lot of free throws in practice so that helped us a lot."

The win moves Laramie County to 3-1 in conference play and 12-8 overall. They will be back in action on Monday evening against Western Nebraksa Community College, with opening tip scheduled for 7:30 pm from Storey Gymnasium.