PRATT, Kan. – Holding a 40-30 lead heading into the halftime break, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team would see their offensive production limited to just 24 second-half points which would allow host Pratt Community College to hand the T-Birds a 67-64 defeat inside the Dennis Lesh Sports Arena in Pratt, Kansas on Saturday, December 3rd.
 
Seeing their eight-game winning streak snapped, CCCC is now 8-3 overall and 4-1 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the Beavers pick up their fifth win of the year to move to 5-5 overall and 2-3 in the KJCCC as four of the five victories have come at home.
 
After shooting nearly 46 percent (17-for-37, 45.95 percent) from the floor in the first half which included four made threes, Cloud County would be limited to just six made field goals in the second half as 11 of their 24 points would come from the charity stripe. Attacking the paint early in the game, the T-Birds would see 32 of their 64 points come in the paint despite being outrebounded by Pratt 39-32 in a game that saw a considerable size advantage for the host Beavers. Pratt meanwhile would shoot just 38.8 percent (19-of-49) from the field but make the most of 29 free throw attempts by connecting on 26 (89.7 percent) as PCC would attempt 12 more free throws than Cloud county and double up the T-Birds in points at the charity stripe.
 
Leading CCCC in scoring would be sophomore Corey Sawyer Jr. who would finish with 16 points and three steals in 32 minutes of action while Joe Kearney would score 13 points in the first half before being held scoreless in the second half. Also reaching double-figures would be Justin Graham with 10 points in addition to a team-high eight rebounds as four other players for Cloud County would account for the remaining 25 points scored by the T-Birds. Pratt would get a game-high 22 points from reigning KJCCC Player of the Week Quintin Metcalf who would also grab a team-high eight rebounds for the Beavers.
 
What's Next?
Cloud County will square off with 22nd ranked Barton Community College on Wednesday, December 7th as both the T-Birds and Cougars will be looking to bounce back from road losses from the weekend. Tip-off is set for 8 PM inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium where the T-Birds have won their last five KJCCC games they have hosted dating back to last season.