TRINIDAD, CO – The Laramie County Community College men's basketball team rode the hot hand of TJ Coulter and a record setting performance on Friday afternoon to take down the Trinidad State College Trojans 83-81 to open up the 2025 portion of the schedule on the road.
"I thought we were in control of the game for, of the 40 minutes, probably 30 of them," Head Coach DeWayne Saulsberry said. "We never could really pull away, but they are a good team and always have been."
The Golden Eagles picked up momentum early from their freshman from Sparks, Nevada, as Coulter made five threes in the opening seven minutes of the game after starting off just 2-4 from deep and by the 12-minute mark, LCCC had pushed in front by six, 21-15.
Trinidad State closed the gap to 35-31 with four minutes to go and pushed a 7-2 run from there to take a 38-37 lead but another Coulter three at the end of the quarter made him 7-9 from deep with 21 points and helped LCCC take a 42-40 lead into the break.
The LCCC offense picked up with a 6-2 run to open the second half on another two threes from Coulter, putting him within one of the record which was set in 2011 and again in 2017 for most three pointers made in a single game.
Trinidad State didn't let the early heat check go unnoticed and they put their All-American on Coulter to quiet him but that only opened up other options, as Davion Butler and Phoenix Bullock began to take more of the offense.
The Trojans continued to hang around, taking the lead at 58-55 with 12:44 left in the game and again at 64-62 after Coulter's 10th three of the game tied the contest at 58.
"We looked like a grown-up team tonight. They made some runs, but I don't think we ever got rattled," Saulsberry said. "When you go on the road like we did against the teams in Arizona, it really prepared us to stay focused. There is a reason you play those games and it's for games like this."
A run from LCCC helped to give the Golden Eagles some distance from the Trojans, but the three-time defending Region IX champs weren't about to be rattled, and tied the game at 74, again at 77 and took the lead after tying it at 79 with an 81-79 edge.
After tying the game again at 81, the Golden Eagles would look to their sophomore point guard and Butler didn't disappoint with a clutch make at the close to push the LCCC lead to 83-81 and give the Golden Eagles their seventh win of the season.
Saulsberry said while the impressive offensive night by Coulter was amazing, he was most pleased with the team's defensive effort.
"We had one guy have a really big night, but I really liked our defense. We really locked down at the end and nothing for them was easy. I feel like we grew up tonight. I bet you can count on one hand how many times they have lost in their building the last four or five years."
Coulter finished the game with a record setting 12 threes on 12-15 shooting from deep. His final tally for the game was 40 points to go with five rebounds and three steals.
Phoenix Bullock finished with 22 points and seven rebounds and Bulter added 15 more with a team high four assists and five rebounds. Andre Bennett added another nine rebounds to go with four points and the scoring was closed out with two from Xavier January.
"TJ's 40 was obviously good, but our sophomore's closed that game out. Phoenix and Davion, the shots they made at the end they really closed that game out, and that's what they are supposed to do," Saulsberry said.
The Golden Eagles were actually outshot in the game with Trinidad State shooting 48 percent to the LCCC 44, but a 47 percent clip from three helped to erase the difference. The Golden Eagles also won the rebounding battle 38-36 including 10 offensive rebounds, and LCCCC also avoided turnovers, only giving the ball away 12 times.
LCCC returns home on January 16th when they face off against Eastern Wyoming College for the start of the conference season. Opening tip of the game is scheduled for 7:30 pm with the women's basketball game to precede it.
More information on this and the full LCCC men's basketball schedule can be found at www.golccc.com.