CHEYENNE, WY – The Laramie County Community College men's basketball team got off to a slow start on Saturday afternoon against Lamar Community College but rallied to finish the weekend with an 89-78 win over the Running Lopes to close out the Thanksgiving Classic.

LCCC opened the game with a lid on the basket and despite getting good looks, couldn't get the buckets to match and found themselves trailing 17-6 in the opening minutes.

The Golden Eagles didn't waver and began to chip into the lead and stared the rally with a 14-5 run of their own to get within a basket with 6:44 remaining in the first half.

Four minutes later, LCCC was able to take their first lead of the game at 31-30 with just over three minutes remaining and they would double up Lamar in the final minutes with a 12-6 run to go into the break up 43-36.

In the second half, the Running Lopes dropped back even more with the Golden Eagles opening the half with a 12-4 run to go up by what would turn into a game high 15 points.

Lamar made a valiant effort to cut into the deficit and had LCCC's lead down to 66-62 with seven minutes to go, but a timely Pedro Ellery three bumped the lead back to seven on the next possession and the Golden Eagles wouldn't look back on the way to an 89-78 win to improve to 5-2 on the season.

Five Golden Eagles finished the afternoon in double digits paced by Davion Butler's 19. Brandon Tchouya had 18 and Ellery finished 5-10 from three for 17 points. Both Jordan Reed and Ejay Scroggins had 13 apiece.

Reed added eight assists in the game and had a team high eleven rebounds and three steals as he flirted with the first triple-double of his collegiate career. Scroggins also added another ten rebounds and three more steals.

The defense for LCCC was stellar in the game, forcing 20 Lamar turnovers with 15 steals as a team. They also showed balance on the attack with a season high 20 assists through the game to only 12 turnovers as a team.

The Golden Eagle men are back in action on Wednesday when they play host to #4 Salt Lake Community College.

Opening tip is scheduled for 7:00 pm from Storey Gym. It is Laramie County Resident Night and all attendees from Laramie County get free admission to the game by showing an ID at the gate.

More information can be found at www.golccc.com.