COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Despite holding a 45-35 advantage in rebounds and having five players in double-figures, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team would drop a 93-88 decision to Iowa Western University inside of Reiver Arena in Council Bluffs, Iowa on Tuesday, December 17th.

Entering the holiday break, Cloud County now holds an overall record of 7-7 while the host Reivers are 10-7 overall.

Following a back-and-forth opening four minutes of the game, the T-Birds would break open an 8-7 lead by going on a 6-0 spurt to double up the Reivers at 14-7. Iowa Western would rally back to get within two at 17-15, but a 10-2 run by Cloud County over the span of 2:29 would force IWCC to call a full timeout as the CCCC took their first double-digit lead of the game at 27-17. The run would continue out of the timeout for Cloud County as things would balloon into a 17-4 run that put the T-Birds up 34-19 as the game would threaten to turn into a blowout with eight minutes remaining in the first half.

Iowa Western would not go away however, scoring the next 11 points to get back within four at 34-30 and cap off an 18-1 run with a jump shot with just over three minutes remaining in the opening period to force a Cloud County timeout. Cloud County Out of the timeout, Cloud County would get an Iyen Enaruna fadeaway jumper and follow it up on the next possession with an Enaruna corner three as the two teams would go back and forth trading buckets. DJ Sims would give the T-Birds their final lead of the first half on a jump shot with 37 seconds remaining as Iowa Western would get a bucket with 10 seconds left to take a 43-42 thanks to a six-of-13 performance from beyond the arc.

A 5-2 rally by Cloud County would kick things off in the second half as five of CCCC's first nine points of the half would come at the charity stripe to spot the T-Birds a 51-47 lead three minutes into the half. Sims would then connect on a jumper 30 seconds later to put Cloud County up six, but Iowa Western would respond by scoring seven of the next nine points to close within a point at 57-56 with just over 14 minutes left in the game.

An Iyen Enaruna layup gave the T-Birds a three-point cushion and allowed CCCC to hold the lead over the course of the next two minutes before seeing the Reivers begin to push the tempo and force Cloud County into turnovers that would directly lead to points and give IWCC a 64-62 lead. The Reiver lead would grow over the course of the next four-plus minutes, reaching as many as 11 at 78-67, but Cloud County would use a 10-2 run to get right back into things and trail 80-77 with 4:16 remaining.

Iowa Western would once again push their lead to eight and hold an 85-77 lead just a minute later, but CCCC would continue to put pressure on the Reivers and eventually tie the game at 85-85 on a pair of Ty Duin free throws. On the next possession down the court, Iowa Western would connect on a three with just over two minutes remaining and force an empty possession from Cloud County which would be followed by another IWCC triple. Down six with just under a minute left, Michael Ozomah would get a three-point play to get Cloud County back within three as a defensive stop gave CCCC the ball with 41 seconds left. It would be an empty possession however by the T-Birds as a turnover would all but seal things as Iowa Western would ice the game at the charity stripe.

Three-point shooting (nine-of-21, 42.9 percent) and free throws (16-for-19, 84.2 percent) for Iowa Western proved to be the big dagger for Cloud County as the T-Birds would shoot 44.9 percent (31-of-69) in the game but hit just five-of-25 (20 percent) of their three's. CCCC would outscore IWCC 35-22 in bench points but be outscored 13-4 in Fastbreak points as the Reivers would beat the T-Birds at their style of play.

 Leading Cloud County on the night would be Akene Agee who would score 17 points on seven-of-eight shooting while Sims scored 14 points and had six rebounds. Duin (13 points), Dyelan Reed (12 points), and Enaruna (11 points) would also reach double-figures as all nine players who played for the T-Birds scored at least three points.   

What's Next?

Cloud County will take off for the holidays and have the next two-plus weeks off before returning to action Saturday, January 4th to resume Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play when they host Northwest Kansas Tech at 4 p.m. The Mavs are 2-10 overall and still searching for their first KJCCC win after dropping each of their first five conference games. Northwest Kansas Tech last played on December 11th, dropping a 93-73 decision at home to Butler.