Northwest Kansas takes control late in win over MCC men

GOODLAND, Kan. – Northwest Kansas Technical College took the lead for good in the final seven minutes of the game and handed the MCC men an 83-73 loss Saturday in the NWKTC Classic at the Max L. Jones Field house. "This was a very disappointing game," said MCC Coach Jacob Brandl. "The focus, grit and discipline that we have shown in every game was not there tonight." The Mavericks took the lead for good with 6:21 left in the game to break up what had been a close game for much of the night. "It is tough when your D1 Big in Will Humer doesn't play, your starting point doesn't play due to injuries and then your captain and leader Trey Summers goes down in the second half with an injury and can't return. And that's when they made the run," said Brandl. MCC had fought back to take a 34-33 lead at the half. MCC shot 42.1 percent from the field, made six of 26 from the 3-point line (23.1 percent) and made 19 of 25 free throws (76 percent). The team committed 21 turnovers and outrebounded the Mavs 36-34. "As a coaching staff we have to figure out a way to make our offense easier for us to not turn the ball over because we are just gifting teams points -- 21 turnovers on 20 steals is unacceptable," Brandl said. Simon Akena (Stockholm, Sweden) sophomore transfer from Three Rivers College (Missouri) scored a season-high 28 points to lead MCC. He also topped the team in rebounds with 10. Sophomore Cameron Nyarko (London, England) had his best scoring game of the season chipping in 11 points to go along with six boards. Keyishon Miller led NWKTC with 20 points and 10 rebounds. The Mavs shot 49.2 percent for the game, made five of 16 from distance (31.3 percent) and sank 18 shots at the line in 27 tries (66.7 percent). NWKTC came up with 20 steals in the game and outscored MCC in the paint 46-28. "There has to be some looking in the mirror to get better and that starts at the top with the coaches because it doesn't matter how good your offense or defense is if you're turning it over 20 times a game." Northwest Kansas improves to 4-1. MCC goes to 2-3. After five games on the road to start the season, MCC will play its first home game Tuesday taking on Dodge City at 7 p.m. Following a tournament at Ottumwa the following weekend, MCC will return home Nov. 22 to play Central Community College at 7:30 p.m. "We have arguably the biggest stretch coming up here, so we need to get better and regroup fast," Brandl said. For all the up-to-date information on MCC basketball this season and all sports including schedules, statistics, rosters and photos, please visit the official website of MCC Athletics at mccindians.com