No. 5 Southern Idaho tops McCook CC men 96-61

TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The McCook Community College men lost a 96-61 decision Saturday to fifth-ranked College of Southern Idaho in the final game of the Idaho Central Credit Union Invitational.

"This was a tough one," said MCC Coach Jacob Brandl. "In the first half, I didn't think we competed."

The Golden Eagles led at intermission 58-29.

"I thought the lights were a little too bright for us," Brandl said. "But that changed the second half. We were a little bit tougher and better in the second half and they still played their guys most of the second half too so not like it was garbage stuff where we played better, I wish we would have started the game like that."

CSI shot 44.2 percent from the field, made 16 of 42 from distance (38.1 percent), and made 12 of 20 free throws (60 percent.) The Golden Eagles outrebound MCC 46-42 and turned 24 MCC turnovers into 38 points.

MCC shot 35.2 percent from the field, made four of 17 3-pointers (23.5 percent), and went 19 of 31 from the free-throw line (61.3 percent.)

"Not having any depth and only having seven guys to play and only one guard make it tough, but credit to our guys they fought," Brandl said. "We basically played the entire second half with three centers out there and we competed."

Freshman Noah Boyed (Castries, St. Lucia) led MCC in scoring on the night with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore transfer Simon Akena (Stockholm, Sweden) added 14 points and eight boards. Sophomore transfer Lamine Ndione (Marseille, France) scored 10 points off the bench and added six rebounds.

CSI improves to 10-0 on the year.

MCC goes to 4-7 and returns home for their final home games of the semester Friday and Saturday. On Friday, MCC hosts Laramie County Community College at 7:30 p.m. and then plays Eastern Wyoming at 4 p.m. Saturday.

"Hopefully we can get a little healthier this week," said Brandl.

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