MCC men open conference with 108-74 win

MCC men open conference with 108-74 win

The McCook Community College men blasted past Southeast Community College 108-74 Friday to open the home season at the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center. The Indians defensive pressure fueled the offense to an 18-4 lead midway through the first quarter and the team never trailed.

"I thought we came out really focused. Our attention to detail was really good as far as a scouting report, and following those details on defense," said MCC Coach Jacob Brandl. "I thought we just overwhelmed them right away to start the game. I don't think they were ready for our energy. That says a lot about our guys being ready to play a basketball game."

In jumping to a 48-28 halftime lead, MCC forced 15 turnovers, had seven steals and limited the Storm to a six-for-23 showing from the field (26.1 percent) in the first 20 minutes of play. The one concern was the number of fouls the Indians were called for 17 putting several players in foul trouble.

"We got a lot of good stuff out of our bench, especially in a game like this when there were a lot of guys in foul trouble. I thought our bench guys were really ready to go and locked in," Brandl said.

Sophomore Bo Quinlan (Beavertown, Oregon) scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half to lead a strong showing from the MCC bench, credited with 60 bench points. Rashe' "RJ" France (redshirt sophomore, Memphis, Tenn.) had 13 points off the bench, Redshirt freshman guard William Lee (Queens, N.Y. / Blue Ridge School, St. George, Va.) came off the bench to score 12 points. Martin Poznanovic (freshman, Uzice, Serbia) picked up a team-high six rebounds off the bench to go along with seven points and freshman DaMiene Boles Jr. (freshman, Dayton, Ohio) chipped in eight.

"Bo, Will Lee, RJ, Martin, they all had great minutes and then DaMiene Boles who hasn't played a lot, and came in at semester, had a great game. He came in and gave us a lot of energy and you can tell where he's athletic and can be a special player if he keeps working," Brandl said. "I'm just really proud of our entire bench and just sticking with it and sharing the basketball like we did."

Starter Cortland Blake (sophomore transfer, Fort Worth, Texas) tied for team-high scoring honors with 15 points. Freshman Julian Lual (Calgary, Alberta) had 12 points and sophomore transfer Damien Perry (Wareham, Mass.) scored 11 points.

The Indians shot 62.9 percent from the field in the second half and 57.4 percent for the game. From the 3-point line MCC made 17 of 35 shots (48.6 percent) and was 13 of 17 from the free-throw line. The Tribe out-rebounded the Storm 39-25.

Southeast shot 38.8 percent from the field, 20 percent from the arc, and made 32 of 47 free throws (68.1 percent). The Storm fall to 1-1 on the season.

MCC improves to 2-1 and take on Central Community College Saturday at 4 p.m. at home. The Raiders (1-2) lost an 82-60 decision Friday at North Platte.