CASPER, WY – The Laramie County Community College men's basketball team got off to a quick start on Thursday night against Casper College, but couldn't make it stick, falling to the Thunderbirds 101-94 to drop to 12-11 overall and 1-4 in Region IX North action.

The game picked up with the Golden Eagle dominating the opening two and a half minutes, picking up three steals from Davion Butler and Ejay Scroggins and going on a 9-2 run to take control early.

"We were playing good defense, and the offense was clicking, but I thought we just paid attention to detail and paid attention to the scouting report," Head Coach DeWayne Saulsberry said. "We ran them off the three-point line and it showed in the score."

Foul trouble began to mount though in the minutes that followed, and the Thunderbirds were able to use a strong night from the line to pull back to within one at 14-13 with after the media timeout and a run of three's followed that eventually would result in a tie game at 24 all.

LCCC's offense cooled off after that for a few minutes, allowing Casper to go on an 11-3 run and take a commanding 35-27 lead of their own with seven minutes to play in the opening half. That lead swelled to as much as 12 and eventually would settle at the halftime break at 53-43.

Both teams were on a heater out of the locker rooms and a fast-paced game ensued, but another cold stretch from the field after the under 14 media time out helped Casper College to a game high lead of 70-53 with 11:24 remaining.

The LCCC attack was able to get it back to a single digit game several times, but every Golden Eagle run had a response, and the game went into the final three minutes with the Thunderbirds leading 90-80.

"They did a good job of responding every time we cut it to nine or ten, a good job of responding to our runs, I gotta hand it to them," Saulsberry said. "(Casper) did what they were supposed to do tonight."

This was where the Golden Eagles showed their grit, and their never say die attitude made the final minutes of the game more than interesting.

Late three's from Butler and Scroggins, along with two more from Phoenix Bullock and Jordan Reed force the Thunderbirds to make free throws down the stretch, allowing them to keep LCCC from getting any closer that five when they cut it to 99-94.

Saulsberry said the ability to take and make threes like that is something he loves to see.

"It means you are never out of a basketball game and it gives you confidence that no matter what the score is you always have a chance to come back."

A missed three with 20 second remaining and Casper leading 101-94 iced the game for the Thunderbirds and put an end to the rally and handed the Golden Eagles their fourth loss in their last five games.

Scroggins finished with 21 points and Butler added 20 as the former AZ Compass teammates led the way on the offensive side for LCCC, including an 18-point second half by Scroggins who added another double-double to his tally with 11 rebounds which was the second most in the game.

Bullock, along with Justin Daniels finished with 16 each and Abdullah Mahamed ended the night with 10 points, including a 6–8-night shooting free throws to round out the Golden Eagles in double figures.

"I thought we did a decent job. This team has to learn how to finish a little bit better, but we have some more games to figure that out," Saulsberry said.

The Thunderbirds were able to shoot an impressive 46.8 percent from the field and had 49 team rebounds in the game to win both categories and shot 22-29 from the free throw line in the game, including going 12-14 in the second half when LCCC was attempting to rally back.

LCCC returns to action with a final road trip to wrap up their first round of Region IX North games as they head to Western Wyoming Community College on Saturday with the opening tip scheduled for 4:00 pm. A watch party for the game will be held at Westby Edge Brewing, beginning at 2:00 pm with the women's game. More information can be found on the game at www.golccc.com.