CONCORDIA, Kan. – Trailing by nine with 3:09 left in the game, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team would find a way to get in a position for sophomore Savian Edwards to hit a go-ahead game-winning bucket with 7.8 seconds remaining in what would become a 59-55 home win over Colby Community College inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium in Concordia, Kansas on Wednesday, February 23rd.
 
The come-from-behind victory secures CCCC's 14th win of the year to improve to 14-16 overall and 10-14 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the regular season comes to an end for Colby with a 15-13 overall record and 10-13 mark in the KJCCC.
 
Fans would be treated to a battle throughout the evening as neither team would lead by double-digits in the contest as three lead changes and three ties would be had on the night. Outside of a tip-in put-back bucket from Cloud County freshman Justin Graham on the first T-Bird possession of the game, defense would be the early headline for both squads as neither team would get second-chance opportunities following missed shots. Following two lead changes in the opening 1:16 of the game, things would begin to settle in as Joe Kearney would put Cloud County up 6-5 on a runner in the paint as part of a 6-0 CCCC run to put Colby in a 10-5 hole five minutes into the contest. The Trojans would respond by scoring five straight and eight of the next 11 as outside shooting would carry Colby throughout the opening stages of the first half.
 
Tied at 13-13, Kearney would briefly put Cloud County back up on an offensive rebound and layup before seeing Colby get two free throws with 7:26 left in the half to tie the game at 15-15. Continuing to hit from outside, Colby would reclaim the lead at 18-15 before seeing the T-Birds pull back even at 20-20 as neither team would be able to string together a large run to gain control in the opening half. A three-point play for Colby's Ahmad Galimore would put the Trojans back up with just over four minutes remaining in the first half as the final four minutes of the opening period would see just six points scored to send things into the half with Colby on top by a score of 25-24.
 
Back-and-forth action in the opening minutes of the second half would set the tone for more closely contested action as Colby and Cloud County would trade the first 13 points of the second half with Corey Sawyer Jr. hitting on his second three of the game to tie things at 31-31. The Trojans would respond with a three of their own to reclaim the lead before eventually going up five at 36-31 with 14:17 left in the contest. Two free throws from Kearney would snap a nearly six-minute scoring drought for the T-Birds as offense would prove still to be hard to come by despite still being within striking distance of the Trojans. Colby would push their lead back out to five twice more in the next three minutes of the game as Cloud County would manage to keep close but never be able to fully close the gap which would force CCCC to play from behind for over 60 percent of the contest.
 
The lead for Colby would continue to stay between three and five points until the final four minutes of the game when the Trojans would get back-to-back layups to go up seven before appearing to start to pull away with another layup with just over three minutes left. A massive response from Edwards from beyond the arc however would be the spark that Cloud County would need as Kearney would hit a second triple for the T-Birds after giving up a jumper with 1:51 remaining to make it a 54-49 game with 1:38 left.
 
Forcing a turnover on the ensuing possession, the T-Birds would close within four after Nate Duckworth would hit on one of two free-throw attempts before getting a one-and-done possession from the Trojans on the other end of the floor. With time beginning to become a factor, Cloud County would elect to cut the Colby lead in half as Sawyer Jr. would drive to the hoop for a layup to make it a 54-52 contest with 36 seconds remaining followed by a T-Bird timeout to set up their defense. Electing to foul and attempt to extend the game, the strategy for Cloud County would work as Colby would split a pair of free throws to keep things at a one-possession game as CCCC would have the ball with a chance to tie the game.
 
Instead of taking a three, the T-Birds would again elect for a layup to get within a point as Duckworth would put together a crossover move on his way to the hole to bring Cloud County within one with still 19 seconds remaining. In a must-foul situation, the T-Birds would foul Ronald Mitchell for a second-straight possession and see the door left open following a missed attempt on the front-end of a one-and-one that would put the ball back in the hands of CCCC down 55-54. A timeout would allow Cloud County to get their desired personnel on the floor and draw up a potential game-winning play that would put the ball in the hands of Edwards as the Topeka, Kansas native would drive to his left before cutting across the paint and back to the right for a go-ahead layup with 7.8 seconds remaining.
 
The T-Birds would then be forced to turn their focus to the defensive end as Colby would attempt to go for a game-winning layup of their own that would get stopped before a shot attempt would be completed with a jump ball being called with one second remaining. With the possession arrow in favor of Colby, the Trojans would see their opportunity at a game-winning shot get erased as a technical foul would be called on the Colby bench for their coaching staff being outside of the designated coach's box which would put Saywer Jr. at the free throw line. Sinking both free throws, Cloud County would suddenly lead by three with the ball going back to Colby but not before a second technical would be called on the Trojan bench for the same issue leading to an ejection of head coach Rusty Elmore. The T-Birds would send Sawyer Jr. back to the free-throw line where he would hit one of two free throws to effectively end the game as the deficit for Colby would now sit at two possessions with just one second on the clock as the Trojans would elect not to attempt a shot after inbounding the ball.
 
The 59 points in a win for Cloud County is the lowest total by the T-Birds in any of their 14 victories this year as Colby would be held to their lowest point total of the year after previously being held to a season-low 58 points on two separate occasions. Shooting just 37.7 percent (20-of-53) from the field, the T-Birds would make the most of their opportunities from the free-throw line by going 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) from the charity stripe while also holding a one-rebound edge on the glass over the Trojans (35-34). Both teams would finish with 30 points in the paint as bench points (7-6 Cloud County), points off turnovers (11-7 Colby), and second-chance points (10-8 Cloud County) would all be nearly identical.
 
A game-high 25 points from Sawyer Jr. would include the final three points of the night to go along with 12 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double while Kearney would net 18 points and record three steals. In total, Sawyer Jr. and Kearney would account for 43 of the 59 points scored by CCCC and 13-of-14 free-throw attempts as no other T-Bird would finish with more than five points in the contest. Colby would get 16 points from Ahmad Johnson and 10 from JJ White.
 
What's Next?
For those who did not get enough of the T-Birds and Trojans putting on a classic on Wednesday night, a second-straight matchup between Cloud County and Colby will take place in the opening round of the NJCAA Region VI Tournament at the Colby Events Center in Colby on Saturday, February 26th. Game time is yet to be determined as the T-Birds and Trojans will be squaring off for the third time this year with all three games coming since January 15th. Colby will be without Elmore in the game following Wednesday night's ejection with one second remaining for receiving two technical fouls.