CONCORDIA, Kan. - Behind 18-point performances from freshman Jack Doumbia and Ibrahim Drame, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team would take care of business and take a 70-50 home win over Northwest Kansas Tech in their Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference opener inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Wednesday, January 27th.

Finishing off a season-opening three-game homestand, CCCC sits a perfect 3-0 and 1-0 in the KJCCC heading into their first road contest while the Mavericks drop their season opener to fall to 0-1 on the year and 0-1 in the KJCCC. 

Following a game-opening layup from Doumbia to get the T-Birds on the board, Cloud County would then go over five minutes without a point while seeing the Mavericks score six straight to put CCCC in a 6-2 hole early on. Doumbia and David Acosta would manage to get the offense going for Cloud County over the next two-plus minutes as the pair would score the next five points of the contest to put the T-Birds up briefly before seeing Northwest Kansas Tech reclaim the lead at 8-7 with 10:47 left in the first half. An Eduardo Peralta-Garcia triple would spark a 10-0 CCCC run to put the T-Birds up nine at 17-8 with just under seven minutes left in the opening period as the offense would start to come alive for Cloud County. CCCC's lead would grow to as many as 12 in the first half, but the Mavericks would grind their way through the rest of the opening 20 minutes of action and keep things at a 31-23 T-Bird lead at intermission. 

Cloud County would come out and build off the first half momentum by scoring nine of the first 11 points of the second half to regain their double-digit lead as things would get pushed out to a 40-26 game with 15:06 left in the contest. Northwest Kansas Tech would struggle from the floor on the offensive side which would allow CCCC to maintain their 14-point lead all the way through the second-half media timeout with 9:56 left in the second half as the T-Birds would begin to pull away in the latter stages. A Drame three with just under five minutes remaining in the contest would give Cloud County their first 20-point lead of the contest at 57-37 as the lead would not dip below 17 for the remainder of the contest while growing to as many as 23 before settling at a 20-point margin of victory for CCCC. 

Holding a 46-33 advantage in rebounds, Cloud County would also hold a 19-9 advantage in points off turnovers and 31-20 margin in bench points. Shooting 29-of-59 (49.2 percent) from the floor, the T-Birds would also connect on five-of-16 (31.3 percent) three's to overcome 18 turnovers in the game. 

In addition to his 18 points, Drame would grab 10 rebounds while going eight-of-nine from the floor and a perfect two-for-two from deep in just 17 minutes of action. Doumbia's 18 points would come alongside nine rebounds in 25 minutes of action while sophomore David Acosta would fill out the box score with eight points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks. The Mavericks would get 12-point outings from Jacari Chambers and Hantz Louis-Jeune to lead their efforts offensively on a night where they shot just 27.4 percent (17-of-62). 

What's Next?

A true road test awaits the T-Birds as Cloud County will travel to Colby for a 4 p.m. battle on Saturday, January 30th. The Trojans, who are receiving votes in the latest NJCAA Division I Top-25 poll, are the lone KJCCC Division I team to have yet to play a game this season as Saturday's contest will serve as their season opener.