CONCORDIA, Kan. – Erasing a 20-point first-half deficit, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team would see a game-tying layup with 11 seconds left off the mark as Independence would hang to hand the T-Birds a 92-88 home loss inside of Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Saturday, February 15th.

Cloud County is now 9-19 overall and 3-16 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference with one conference game remaining while the Pirates picked up their 20th win to improve to 20-8 and 11-7 in the KJCCC.

"It's hard to win a ball game when you don't value the basketball early and we made a multitude of mistakes in the first half and first 10 minutes of the second-half which really hurt us tonight" said head coach Jordan Altman in a post-game interview. "A lot of how we finish off the season with two games left in the regular-season is going to come down to how I'm able to manage our rotation and make sure we play our players that give us the best opportunity to win while limiting our mistakes and putting forth a game-plan and scouting report that puts us in the best position to win."

Independence would come out of the gates looking to utilize a long-range game as the first three made buckets for the Pirates would come from deep to give ICC a 9-3 lead just 1:35 into the game. Trailing 11-5 two minutes later, Cloud County would get a pair of DJ Sims free throws and Jay Lewis triple to offset an Independence layup and get back within three at 13-10, but the Pirates would score nine of the next 11 to go up double-digits at 22-12 with 13:29 left in the first half. Things would continue to swing in favor of Independence leading up to the media timeout with 9:10 left in the first half as the Pirates would continue to hit shots from deep and hold a 30-17 lead midway through the first half.

Continuing to add to their lead, Independence would take their largest lead of the contest with just over three minutes remaining in the first period following a TJ Collins layup that would force a full timeout from the T-Birds to try and make the most of what remained in the opening half. Out of the timeout, it would be a Dyelan Reed triple that would finally get things back on track for CCCC as the freshman would score five of Cloud County's eight points down the stretch to help the T-Birds to close things out on an 8-2 run and get back within 14 at 50-36 at halftime.

Looking to ramp up the intensity and pressure, Cloud County would score seven of the first nine points of the second half courtesy of Lewis as the T-Birds would get within nine at 52-43 with 17:18 left in the game. Reed and Lewis would then connect on back-to-back triples after an Independence layup to help CCCC cut further into the lead as the 14-point deficit would be down to just five at 54-49 and eventually getting within four at 54-50. The Pirates would have a response however as the lead would be pushed back out to 11 at 61-50 just four minutes later as the Pirates would once again have breathing room heading into the final 10 minutes of action.

The lead for Independence would remain in double-digits over the course of the next three minutes as Cloud County would be unable to get a much-needed stop to try and cut into the lead as the T-Birds would be faced with a 72-62 deficit with 7:24 remaining in the second half. It would appear as though CCCC would begin a comeback as Cloud County would get back with seven at 72-65 with just over six minutes remaining, but the Pirates would have a response yet again as the lead for Independence would sit at 80-71 with just 3:16 remaining. The three-point shooting bug would finally find the T-Birds as Reed, Chad Vincent-Simon and Lewis would come up with big shots from beyond the arc to go along with three Lewis free throws and a pair of Reed free throws to close within three at 86-83 with one minute remaining.

Independence would go one-for-two from the free throw line on the ensuing possession to go back up two possessions, but Lewis would again hit a pull up triple and bring CCCC within one. Another possession for the Pirates would result in a split at the charity stripe, giving Cloud County another chance with 49 seconds left as Lewis would drive the length of the court and hit a layup to tie things at 88-88 with 38 seconds left. Independence would hit a mid-range jumper with 22 seconds left as a response to reclaim the lead at 90-88 as Cloud County would use a timeout to try and draw up a response. Out of the timeout, Cloud County would see Lewis drive to the hoop but be unable to convert with the shot being blocked and Independence grabbing the rebound to be put on the line once more. This time would see the Pirates hit on both free throws as the four-point deficit would end up holding as the final difference despite a gritty comeback from the T-Birds.

Free throws and points off turnovers would come back to haunt CCCC in the game as a 20-of-30 (66.7 percent) performance from Cloud County at the line while also allowing 22 points off of 21 turnovers would give the Pirates the final edge. The T-Birds would wind up shooting 50.0 percent (28-of-56) from the field and get 32 points in the paint as each team would grab 35 rebounds in the contest.

Lewis would score 27 of his game-high 33 points in the second half, adding four rebounds and two assists in 31 minutes of action. Reed would be an ironman and play all 40 minutes while scoring a career-high 19 points on a five-of-eight performance from three. Independence would have four of their five starters reach double-figures and be led by a team-high 19 from Demetric Horton.

What's Next?

The KJCCC regular-season finale for Cloud County will come on the road as the T-Birds will travel to Neosho County Community College for a 7:30 p.m. tilt on Wednesday, February 19th. The Panthers are at Coffeyville Community College on Saturday evening for a tilt with the Red Ravens.