MCC men to play Gillette College Thursday in next round of tournament

After a thrilling buzzer-beater to open the first-round play-in portion of the Region IX tournament, the MCC Men will play Gillette College at 4 p.m. (CT) in Scottsbluff for the second of four seminfinals set for Thursday.

The men's Region IX tournament will be the 64th in the region's history and this year, the remaining rounds will be played at Scottsbluff with the south serving as the home site. Western Nebraska won the south division of Region IX and earned a first-round bye. The 22-8 Cougars will play the north's fourth seed, Northwest College (14-17) in Thursday's final game at 8 p.m. (CT).

Trinidad State (22-9) was the south's second seed and will open Thursday play against third-seeded Laramie County (17-14) from the north. Tipoff for that game is 2 p.m. (CT). MCC (11-20) will take on the top seed from the north Gillette College (26-4) at 4 p.m. (CT) while the north's second seed, Casper (23-8) plays the south's third seed, Otero (14-16) in the 6 p.m. (CT) game.

In first round play-in games Saturday in the south, MCC pulled off an upset over Northeastern Junior College 78-76 in Sterling, Colo. The fifth-seeded Indians were tied with the third seeded Plainsmen 76-76 with 5.3 seconds left in the game. MCC inbounded the ball and went the full length of the court as sophomore Ty Foster (Bronx, N.Y.) hit the game-winning layup.

In the other play-in games in the south, Trinidad State beat Lamar 88-70 in Trinidad, Colo., and Otero downed North Platte 91-87 in overtime at La Junta, Colo. In the north, Northwest Wyoming was a 97-93 winner over Central Wyoming in Riverton, Wyo., Casper topped Eastern Wyoming 114-94 in Casper and Laramie County Community College was a 90-81 winner over Western Wyoming in Cheyenne.

MCC went 3-5 against teams in the north division, 2-2 against teams remaining in the tournament. The Indians have never won the Region IX championship and only reached the finals twice – in 1997 losing to Western Nebraska 77-59; and in MCC Coach Jacob Brandl's first year 2021 when the Indians lost to NJC 89-71.

Friday's semifinal games will be at 6 and 8 p.m. (CT) with Saturday's championship at 6 p.m. (CT).

Up-to-date information about MCC basketball including schedules, statistics, rosters and photos can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com.

MEN'S REGION IX TOURNAMENT
SATURDAY'S FIRST-ROUND GAMES (South)
     McCook CC 78, at Northeastern Junior College 76 (at Sterling, Colo.)
     Trinidad State 88, Lamar 70 (at Trinidad, Colo.)
     Otero JC 91, North Platte 87 (OT) - (at La Junta, Colo.)
SATURDAY'S FIRST-ROUND GAMES (North)
     Northwest College 97, Central Wyoming 93 (at Riverton, Wyo.)
     Laramie County CC 90, Western Wyoming 81 (at Cheyenne, Wyo.)
     Casper College 114, Eastern Wyoming 94 (at Casper, Wyo.)

NEXT ROUNDS at Scottsbluff Thursday-Saturday
THURSDAY'S GAMES (Seeding, record, time)
     Trinidad State (S2, 22-8) vs. Laramie County CC (N4, 17-14), 2 p.m. (CT)
     McCook CC (S6, 11-20) vs Gillette College (N1, 26-4), 4 p.m. (CT)
     Western Nebraska (S1, 22-8) vs. Northwest College (N6, 14-17) 6 p.m. (CT)
     Otero JC (S4, 14-16) vs. Casper College (N2, 23-8), 8 p.m., (CT)
FRIDAY'S GAMES
     Trinidad State/Laramie County winner vs McCook/Gillette College winner 6 p.m. (CT)
     Western Nebraska/Northwest winner vs Otero/Casper winner, 8 p.m. (CT)
SATURDAY GAME
     Championship game, 6 p.m. (CT)