CHEYENNE, WY – The Laramie County Community College men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to #3 Salt Lake Community College on Wednesday night after a buzzer beater by the Bruins forced overtime where they dispatched the Golden Eagles 113-112.
SLCC took the early advantage and had a 12-point advantage after eight minutes as the teams went to their benches for the first media timeout. That was where the Golden Eagles were able to calm their nerves and rally back with an 11-2 run to close the half only down 53-50.
The Golden Eagles stayed tight with SLCC during the second half's opening minutes and eventually were able to take a late lead with just over six minutes remaining when they went on a run to go up 81-74.
A Bruins timeout turned into an 11-2 run of their own to give them the lead back, and both teams would trade leads until a layup by Brandon Tchouya with six seconds left put LCCC up 95-93. Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, quick thinking, and a quick drive up the court let SLCC even the game at 95 at the buzzer to force overtime.
The extra time opened with a 7-0 run from Salt Lake and that seemed enough to doom the Golden Eagles, but they never said die and with two minutes to play had trimmed it back to a 103-101 lead, but a CJ Luster three pushed the lead back to 106-101 and that hill proved too much for LCCC to climb as they fell 113-112.
Tchouya led the way with 26 points in the game to go with five rebounds. He was joined by Phoenix Bullock with 21 points. Other Golden Eagles with double digits were Davion Butler with 16 along with Pedro Ellery, Ejay Scroggins, and Jordan Reed all finishing with 12.
Rebounding was tough for LCCC on the night with SLCC outpacing them 51-35 on the glass, including 19 offensive rebounds for the Bruins. LCCC did shoot well in the game though, finishing with a 51.4 percent clip from the field and shooting 34 percent from three.
A rematch looms in just a few weeks for the Golden Eagles when LCCC heads to Salt Lake City on December 12th for a rematch with the Bruins. The Golden Eagles can't focus on that, with games against North Platte Community College and McCook Community College on Friday and Saturday as part of a stretch which sees them playing seven games in eleven days.
More information on the schedule can be found at www.golccc.com.