LAMAR, CO – The Laramie County Community College men's basketball team fell for just the second time this season 79-78 to Lamar Community College in a physical and scrappy game on Tuesday night.
"We aren't tough enough to drive four hours, get off the bus, and win a basketball game," Head Coach DeWayne Saulsberry said. "It's got nothing to do with anything else. We just aren't tough enough and hopefully we get there. If we don't, it's going to be a long year."
The first half saw a strong defensive effort from both teams and the Golden Eagles were able to take a narrow 38-37 advantage into the locker rooms.
After seven and a half minutes of play in the second half, LCCC looked like they were going to run away with the game, after an 18-5 run to open the frame put the Golden Eagles in control 56-42.
"We stopped turning it over and started making shots," Saulsberry said. "The defense was really good for about ten minutes in that second half but then we just laid down."
The Golden Eagles only scored one point over the next five minutes of the game and saw Lamar go on an 18-1 run to take the lead back at 60-59.
With six minutes to go, a pair of Davion Butler three's followed by two drives to the rim by Jordan Reed pushed the Lopes into a timeout and gave the Golden Eagles a four point lead at 73-69.
That would be the closest Lamar would get in the final minutes as the hot shooting from LCCC kept the lead to 78-73 with just 1:43 remaining in the game.
A 4-0 run from Lamar gave them a chance in the final minute to take the lead and a running floater in the lane gave them that edge with just eight seconds left. LCCC called a timeout for a final play with three seconds on the clock down 79-78.
A contested three in the corner rimmed out at the horn and that would be the final score with LCCC dropping their second of the year.
"We are a good team, but we aren't a tough team yet, and in this conference, you have to go on the road and win basketball games. We were too casual with the basketball, and we ran into a team tonight that wanted it a lot more than we did," Saulsberry summarized.
Reed finished with a game high 23 points and was helped with 16 from Butler off the bench. Brandon Tchouya also finished with 13.
The team did move the ball well during the game with 15 assists including four assist games from Reed and Ejay Scroggins.
On the glass the Golden Eagles finished with a 42-36 advantage which was paced by Abdullah Mahamed's 10 which marked the first time this season he secured double digit rebounds.
Free throws were the difference in the game. LCCC finished the night just 6-18 from the line while Lamar cashed in on 19-26 attempts. The Running Lopes also finished shooting 46 percent from three compared to an 8-26 night from deep for the Golden Eagles.
The Golden Eagles will have a ten-day layoff before getting back into action on November 24th for the first game of the Thanksgiving Classic at Storey Gym. That will be the start of a five game homestand for LCCC's men's teams and a stretch of 11 games in 22 days.
For more information on the men's schedule, please visit www.golccc.com.