TORRINGTON, WY – The Laramie County Community College men's basketball team was in a run and gun affair on Saturday afternoon against EWC but pulled away late to take down the Lancers 109-97 and finish a season sweep while moving to 15-11 on the season and more importantly 5-4 in Region IX North play.
"You go on the road and you want to play a good defensive game and we just didn't," Head Coach DeWayne Saulsberry said, "but our offense showed up and at this point in the season you'll take them any way you can get them."
The opening half was a game of runs, with both teams sharing the lead multiple times.
LCCC landed the first blows to make it a five-point game at 12-7, but Eastern Wyoming rallied back to tie the game at 21. The same script would follow another two times, with the Golden Eagles building leads of nine and eight only to see the Lancers rally back to even the game and eventually take a 56-50 lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, the Golden Eagles tightened up their defense and made a push in the opening four minutes to take their first lead of the second half on a Brandon Tchouya drive which made it 64-63.
From there, LCCC didn't look back.
They built the lead up to double digits thanks to a steady diet of inside looks led by Tchouya along with Xavier McCord and Jayden McCray who combined to go 18-18 on the night from the field with McCray adding a 4-4 night from the free throw line to boot.
"We preach (being ready) all the time in practice," McCray said about having the hot hand. "Honestly, the guards keep us ready every day so I really have to appreciate them. They tell me stay ready every day and finish and when you're finishing like that then they'll keep going to you."
The defense also held Marko Krtinic to just four points in the second half after the Lancer forward had 16 in the first half, changing their strategy on the inside to get more favorable matchups.
"We kept switching (screens) and they took advantage when we switched of having a smaller guy on their big," Saulsberry said. "So the adjustment we made was we made Jayden not switch so he could stay on their big guy and it helped."
The Golden Eagles eventually clinched the win with a 109-97 victory to move one step closer to earning the number three seed and hosting the opening round of the Region IX championships.
McCord picked up yet another double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds and was just two assists shy of a triple double with eight. He was joined by Tristan Starks for the team lead in scoring with 24 as well.
Tchouya added 21 and McCray's perfect night led him to a career high 16 points to go with six boards and two assists. Jordan Reed rounded out the Golden Eagles in double digits with 10 and the team had nine players tally points in the win.
LCCC shot a blistering 71 percent from the field including an incredible 91 percent for two point field goals, and after seeing the Lancers shoot nearly 76 percent in the first half they held EWC to a final shooting percentage of 53 percent.
Laramie County will hope to continue the hot shooting when they return home for sophomore night on Tuesday against Northwest College with major seeding implications and the number three seed on the line.
Saulsberry said he wants the team to know exactly what is on the line going into Tuesday's game.
"If you're not playing for first or second or third place, then I don't want you on this team. So, I want those guys looking at it just like I look at it and if it's pressure than its pressure, but I want those guys knowing where we stand and that every game counts."
Opening tip for that game is scheduled for 7:30 pm following the women's game.