CONCORDIA, Kansas — The Cloud County Community College men's basketball team did a lot of positive things Wednesday evening against Colby Community College. Unfortunately, the T-Birds just weren't able to go to the well often enough in its 79-71 loss to the Trojans.

"This team has a really hard time of recognizing its strengths and its weaknesses, what's working and what isn't. I thought (Wednesday) was a prime example of that," Altman said. "We forced things that weren't working repeatedly and we went away from things that were working repeatedly."

Cloud County (6-17 overall, 4-16 KJCCC) owned the paint Wednesday as it finished with a 40-26 advantage in points in the paint, led by redshirt sophomore forward Ramion Burt Jr. with 16 points (7-of-9 shooting) and freshman forward Breyon Jackson with 10 points. (3-for-3 shooting). Burt Jr. added a team-high 11 rebounds, three steals and a pair of blocks in recording his 11th double-double of the season.

Despite the success inside, the T-Birds struggled to get consistent touches to their bigs and were limited to a tough 2-of-11 night from beyond the 3-point arc.

"We recognized at halftime that both of those guys were successful in the paint. We asked our guards to continue to go down there and, unfortunately, we were unable to execute that part of our plan," Altman said.

The long ball proved to be a game-changer Wednesday as Colby (16-8 overall, 12-8 KJCCC) shot a sizzling 46 percent (10-of-22) from distance, led by Craig Beaudion as he was a perfect 7-for-7 on 3-point attempts.

Cloud County trailed 39-31 at the half, and by as many as 15 points with 9:49 remaining. The T-Birds did not go away quietly, though, as they rallied to within seven points at 60-53 with 6:32 remaining following a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Solomon Finley.

Colby countered with a quick 5-0 burst, however, to halt the momentum and push the lead back up to 12.

The T-Birds made one final gasp as they closed a 15-point gap back to seven on two occasions during the final 92 seconds. Freshman JaVary Christmas made a driving layup with 40 ticks remaining, forcing a timeout by the Trojans, but Cloud County ran out of time as Colby was able to hold on for the 79-71 final.

Christmas finished the evening with nine points, while fellow freshman Brayden Day provided a spark with 12 points and four rebounds off the bench.

Cloud County will aim to bounce back Saturday when it heads back out on the road to face Garden City Community College. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.

"Garden City is by far the most physical team (in the conference). It has some big dudes; literally a couple guys off their football team," Altman said. "We're going to have to be ready for physical play. I think we'll use some similar things (from Wednesday) offensively and defensively, but it will be a lot more physical."