CONCORDIA, Kan. – Looking like two heavyweight prizefighters for 50 minutes of action, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team and number six nationally-ranked Coffeyville Community College would put on a show for regulation and two overtime periods before seeing the T-Birds fall in a 100-96 two-overtime defeat inside of Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Wednesday, March 17th.

Having just played an overtime contest 48 hours prior to tonight's contest, Cloud County falls to 4-13 overall and 2-13 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the Red Ravens manage to avoid just their second defeat of the year to improve to 16-1 overall and 14-1 in the KJCCC.

One tie and five lead changes in the opening four-plus minutes of the game would set the tone and foreshadow things to come throughout the night as both teams would punch-for-punch in the early going while trying to build some momentum. After a steal and layup from Detavius Frierson would give Cloud County an 8-7 lead with 15:18 left in the first half, the T-Birds would use the lead to go on a 16-2 run over the course of 4:18 to take their largest lead of the game at 22-9 on the Red Ravens.

Showing resolve like would be expected from a top-10 squad, Coffeyville would remain composed and come back with five quick points in the span of 39 seconds to get the lead back down to single-digits as CCC would score the next 14 points of the contest to reclaim the lead at 23-22 with 6:30 left before halftime. Things would then become a back-and-forth prizefight to close out the first half as Cloud County would score the next seven before allowing the Red Ravens to answer with seven straight of their own to make it 30-29 with just under two minutes before halftime. A Zavien Smith triple and David Acosta rim-rattling dunk would allow Cloud County to go back up four briefly as Coffeyville would close out the final minute by scoring the final five points to go up by a 35-34 margin at the break.

Three more lead changes and a tie would come right out of the gates to start the second half as Coffeyville would finally manage to break through and build some momentum to go up seven on a Bostyn Holt layup with 16:18 remaining in regulation, but Cloud County would not allow the Red Ravens to do any more damage. After seeing CCC push the lead to eight, Cloud County would come back with a Smith triple, Edwards free throw, and Acosta layup to get back within two as the game would tighten up significantly for the final 12-plus minutes of the second half.

Coffeyville would manage to maintain their lead over the course of the next five-plus minutes of action but the T-Birds would finally manage to break through and tie things up at 54-54 on an Edwards three. The Topeka, Kansas native would then give Cloud County their first lead since the first half on a layup by going coast-to-coast as neither team would be willing to give an inch down the stretch.
In the final six minutes of regulation, ties would be had at 60-60 and 63-63 as Coffeyville would manage to put together a 6-2 spurt to turn a two-point lead into a six-point lead at 71-65 with 1:33 remaining before seeing a pair of Edwards free throws get CCCC back within four. The T-Birds would then get a must-needed turnover and manage to send Smith to the line where the sophomore would sink two free throws of his own as the lead would continue to dwindle. Facing a 74-71 deficit after a one-of-two trip to the charity stripe for Coffeyville, Cloud County would get one last chance in the final 15 seconds of regulation as Smith would come up with an absolute gem of a three to tie things with just under six seconds left and send things to overtime.

Winning the opening tip in overtime, Acosta would send the ball towards the Cloud County hoop to a waiting Edwards who would lay it up and in as Cloud County would seemingly be first to grab momentum in the extra session to take a quick lead. Coffeyville would have a response by scoring the next four points before seeing a Dyelan Reed corner three put CCCC back up by a score of 79-78 as the sophomore would be fouled on Cloud County's next offensive possession where he would hit both free throws to make it an 81-78 game with 3:10 left in overtime.

Things would continue to go in the favor of CCCC in the extra period as a defensive stop and pair of Acosta free throws would put the T-Birds up five, but the Red Ravens would once again show why they're a top-10 squad by scoring four of the next six to get back within four. It would then become a game of free throws for Cloud County as the T-Birds would make the most of their trips to the line, but would be unable to stop Coffeyville on the defensive end as the Red Ravens would manage to stay within arm's reach of CCCC. After a pair of Coffeyville free throws, freshman Malang Athian would be fouled where he would hit on one-of-two free throws to make it a three-point game with 31 seconds left. Coffeyville would return the favor from regulation on their final offensive possession to hit a fallback three to tie things up as Edwards would put up a buzzer-beating layup that would rim in and out and send things to a second overtime period.

With fouls adding up for both teams and an absolutely exhausted T-Bird squad, depth would begin to play a role as the bench of Coffeyville would allow the Red Ravens to keep fresher players in the game and a step ahead of the T-Birds off the dribble. After exchanging the first four points over the overtime session, Coffeyville would then utilize the charity stripe to their advantage to score the next four points before fouling Edwards on a fadeaway three as the sophomore would hit all three of his attempts to get Cloud County back within one. Back-to-back empty possessions offensively for CCCC would then allow Coffeyville to push their lead back out to four with 1:32 remaining as the T-Birds would do whatever they could to try and extend the game but ultimately come up short as a pair of untimely turnovers and missed layups would wind up looming large in the waning seconds.

In total, the game would feature 20 lead changes and 12 ties throughout the 50 minutes of play as Cloud County would go 20-of-79 (40.8 percent) from the floor while hitting on 11-of-32 (34.4 percent) of their three-point attempts and 27-of-36 (75.0 percent) opportunities from the free-throw line. The capacity-limited sellout crowd would also see CCCC hold an 18-12 advantage in second-chance points despite being outrebounded 44-42 and facing a big 56-34 deficit in points in the paint.

All five starters for Cloud County would reach double-figures as Edwards would lead the way with a new career-high for the second-straight night by going for 24 points and adding four assists while Smith would go for 19 points which included four treys. Having a big all-around night would Acosta as the sophomore would score 13 points, grab 11 rebounds, and block seven shots as the Santiago Dominican Republic native would flirt with a triple-double for much of the night.  

What's Next?
Cloud County will have another 48-hour turnaround post-overtime as the T-Birds will hit the road on Friday, March 20th to head to Liberal, Kansas to take on Seward County Community College in a makeup contest from earlier this season. CCCC's final KJCCC-Cross Division game will come against a Saint squad that will be coming off a two-overtime loss themselves as SCCC dropped a 95-94 double OT heartbreaker to Dodge City at home on Wednesday night.