Men’s basketball split at LCCC Classic

The men’s basketball team had one victory this weekend and one loss. The Rustlers played Northwest Kansas Technical College on Friday Nov. 13 and won by a nail biter, 74-73.

“We earned a nice win against Northwest Kansas Tech,” said Pat Rafferty, head coach. “They’re a solid, athletic team with good size.”

Northwest Kansas had a seven point lead in the first half but the Rustlers came back in the second half with an eight point lead.

Three players scored in the double digits. Nicholas Anderson took the lead for points with 21 and six assists. Brannon Cresanto scored 16 points for the team and Justice Augmon added 14.

The Rustlers had 34 rebounds during the contest just two points less than their contenders.

“I thought we did a good job of adjusting as the game went on while still playing hard and with good energy and purpose,” Rafferty said. We were also put in some late game situations that will be good for us to have experienced down the road in future games.”

In their second game of the weekend, the Rustlers lost to Laramie County Community College. It was a close match for the Rustlers, only losing by three points, 77-74.

“We did a good job of competing and putting ourselves in position to get a good road win but couldn’t quite close the deal late in the game,” Coach Rafferty said.

Justice Augmon was on top of his game scoring 20 points for the team and battled ten rebounds in the contest. Nicholas Anderson and Marcus Nolan both contributed with 11 points each.

Travonta Maddox had six assists. Overall the team had a total of 34 rebounds and 17 assists.

“We need to sharpen up some of our decisions and do a better job executing…but I was pleased to see how hard our guys played.”

The Rustlers will travel to Snow College Nov. 20 for their next game.