MCC men down Lamar in Region IX South opener

MCC men down Lamar in Region IX South opener

Leading by four points at intermission Tuesday night, the McCook Community College men started the second half on an 8-3 spurt and went on to an 88-75 win over Lamar Community College in the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center. The game was the first in Region IX South play this year.

"I thought in the second half we really came out with our ears pinned back and really took it to them. That's something we talk about every game the first two minutes of the game and the first two minutes of the second half and setting the tone and I thought that was the ball game," said MCC Coach Jacob Brandl.

MCC led 41-37 at the half, scored six quick points, went on to an eight point lead seven minutes into the half and went on another run to lead 65-21 with 11:46 left in the game.

"We went on a big run to start the second half and they couldn't catch back up and every time they tried to make a run we ended it and made our own run and we were able to execute late." Brandl said.

The Indians shot 45.9 percent in the first half then lit it up at 59.4 percent in the second half and finished the game shooting 52.2 percent.

Sophomore Rahkiem Petterson (Midland, Texas) led all players with 23 points and 12 rebounds. He was 10 of 15 from the field, made one of three 3-point shots and was two of four from the freethrow line.

"Rahkeim had another double-double for us and that's three straight double-doubles for him." Brandl said. He's just turning into a man right now and is another guy we need to just continue to keep going."

Sophomore Marcus Tobin (Ewa Beach, Hawaii) had a season-high 18 points making eight of his 13 shots from the field and two of three from the line.

"Marcus played really well for us," Brandl said. "It was good to see him get going because he's got to do that for us. He's got to continue to be aggressive and be a defender for us."

Redshirt freshman William Lee (Queens, N.Y. /Dodge City Community College) came off the bench to score 15 points including making all four of his 3-point attempts.

"It's good to see Will Lee get his shot going again because he's going to be a big piece for us," Brandl said.

Sophomore Damien Perry (Wareham, Mass.) scored eight points, had eight rebounds and five assists. Freshman Julian Lual (Calgary, Alberta) scored nine points and redshirt sophomore Rashe' France (Memphis, Tenn.) came off the bench with eight points.

"We got a lot of big stuff from a lot of people," Brandl said.

Lamar made 42.9 percent in the first half and shot 44.8 percent for the game. The Runnin' Lopes out-rebounded MCC 38-36. Lamar goes to 3-5 on the season.

MCC improves to 6-2 (1-0 in Region IX South) and will hit the road this weekend for two more Region IX South games starting Friday in Scottsbluff (8 p.m. CT) against Western Nebraska (6-4) and Saturday at Sterling, Colo., (5 p.m. CT) against Northeastern Junior College (6-3). MCC will also be on the road the following weekend to face Region IX south opponents Otero JC on Feb. 26 and Trinidad State on Feb. 27.

MCC's next home game is March 2 against North Platte (7 p.m.) which will be the annual Phi Theta Kappa Blue Out/homecoming game.

For more photos from today's game please visit the McCook Community College Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/MPCCMcCook