CHEYENNE, WY – A torrid start offensively couldn't be sustained as the Laramie County Community College men's basketball team fell 106-95 in their Region IX North conference matchup with Northwest College on Friday night at the Blue FCU RAC.

"It was big swings," Head Coach DeWayne Saulsberry said. "We had a big swing right at the beginning, and they had a big swing and the game just kind of slowed down and went to the free throw line and it was just a really slow game after that. The slower the game gets the worse (we) are going to play. We play an up tempo fast paced game."

The game opened on a 10-0 run from LCCC including two three's and an and-one free throw from TJ Coulter and a third three from Davion Butler which forced the Trappers to call and early timeout to settle down their defense and quiet the crowd after just two minutes of play.

The gap was trimmed to just four after an 8-2 run from Northwest to respond, but the Golden Eagles held them off and pushed the lead back to as much as nine going into the under 12-minute media timeout, leading 22-14 with 11:14 remaining in the first half.

NWC rallied back for a second time and with seven and a half minutes left were able to bring the score to 25-24 but an aggressive attack inside and multiple steals leading to fast break layups again pushed the lead back to three possessions at 33-26 and again at 40-32.

From there, both sides would play out an even final three minutes of the first half putting the Golden Eagles up 48-38 going into the halftime locker rooms.

The lead for LCCC peaked in the second half early when Andre Bennett hit the opening three of the half and put the Golden Eagles up by 13 at 51-38.

It would remain in double figures, or around that mark for the next seven minutes until a burst from Northwest College closed it back to 63-59 going into a timeout with 12:01 to go in the half. Poor shooting from the Golden Eagles and foul trouble began to allow Northwest to continue to erode the lead until they eventually took their first lead of the game with 11 minutes to go, going up 64-63.

Four lead changes followed, as the Golden Eagles would make a shot, but the Trappers would attack the paint and earned trips to the line to push back in front each time until they received the break point to go up 71-68 and put LCCC in the position of needing to rally.

Bennett answered the bell again and tied the game at 71. That would be the last time in the game the Golden Eagles would lead or hold a share of the lead. Northwest answered with a three of their own to go up 74-71 and continued to use the foul line, where they would shoot 33-41 over the course of the game, to slowly build the lead.

Four Golden Eagles would foul out over the next seven minutes, with Brevin Phillips (7:27), Butler (3:34), Phoenix Bullock (2:39), and Bennett (1:27) all picking up five fouls on the way to 28 fouls in the game for LCCC, 19 of which came in the second half.  

"I thought we let the referee's control us emotionally. You can't play a game where your emotions are not in check. We have to find a way to get ourselves right and it was really difficult to do that tonight," Saulsberry added.

The lead for Northwest peaked at 98-85 at just under four minutes to go, but the young Golden Eagles would work to rally back, closing the gap to just six on an 8-1 run to make it 99-93 with 1:40 remaining.

 It was all newcomers to the team this season that led the final charge back and Saulsberry said it impressed him about their resolve not to quit.

"It shows that what we are teaching them in practice about never giving up, they are learning. This is conference play, and you have to keep fighting. It was a good fight tonight and we have to fight tomorrow. I'm excited about where we are heading."

Steam would run out in the charge though, and the Golden Eagles momentum couldn't carry them all the way back into the game and the Trappers would go nearly perfect from the line down the stretch to rebuild the lead back to double figures, closing out with the 106-95 win.

Four Golden Eagles finished in double figures, led by Coulter who finished with 24 points, five assists and five rebounds. Davion Butler added another 23 points and four assists and both Bullock and Nikko Von Stralendorff finished with 15 apiece. Von Stralendorff doing it all from beyond they arc where he finished 5-11 from deep in the game.

Saulsberry said Bulter kept the game in their grasp during his time on the court and unfortunately fouls kept him from being involved for the final three and a half minutes.

"I thought Davion really controlled the game with his defense especially," Saulsberry said. "He really got under the point guard who struggled to go downhill with DB keeping him from doing that."

LCCC won most team categories in the game, including dishing out 20 assists as a group for a season high, but rebounding was the most critical factor where the Trappers finished with a 49-23 advantage on the glass, including a 29-10 difference in the second half.

Northwest also finished the game shooting 58 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc.

The loss drops the LCCC men back to 8-12 on the season and 1-1 in Region IX North action, but they will be back on the court with a chance to rally back on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm when they host Central Wyoming College at the Blue FCU RAC.

"Tomorrow becomes a must win for us. We can't lose two games at home in a row. I told the guys to go and get some sleep, I'm going to get some sleep, and we are going to forget about this game and figure out tomorrow," Saulsberry said.

More information on Saturday's game and the full LCCC men's basketball scheduled can be found at www.golccc.com.