CONCORDIA, Kan. – In what has recently become a yearly occurrence, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team would go down to the wire with a nationally-ranked Coffeyville Community College squad at home with the 2023 rendition finishing as a 72-64 upset of the 15th-ranked Red Ravens inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Saturday, February 18th.
 
Capping off a massive week on their home court, Cloud County improves to 14-13 overall and 10-11 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference following their second upset of a top-15 nationally-ranked opponent in the span of four days for their sixth win over a nationally-ranked team this season. Coffevyille sees their brief time in a tie atop the KJCCC standings come to a halt by losing for just the second time since January 14th, falling to 21-6 overall and 15-6 in the KJCCC.
 
With the previous two matchups in Concordia accounting for five total overtime periods and both games ending in four-point Coffeyville victories, a slow start from the T-Birds would find Cloud County in a 7-2 hole just 90 seconds into the contest. After responding with a made Malang Athian triple to cut the five-point deficit down to two, the Red Ravens would respond with back-to-back made treys of their own to go back up by eight at 13-5 and force an early Cloud County timeout with 16:17 left in the first half. Out of the timeout, Cloud County get another three from Athian on an assist from Ja'Ron Briggs Jr. to respond and stay within striking distance as the T-Birds would eventually be able to get back within three at 15-12 and again at 18-15 with just over 12 minutes left in the opening period.
 
An 8-2 Coffeyville run would see the three-point T-Bird deficit quickly grow to double-digits at 25-15 as the Red Ravens would seemingly begin to take control and score at will to take their largest lead of the game at 34-18 with 6:27 left in the first half to force another Cloud County timeout. The timeout by the T-Birds once again would seemingly do the trick for the CCCC offense as Cloud County would get a made Joe Kearney floater in the paint before getting a Corey Sawyer Jr. three-point play on their next possession as part of a quick 5-0 spurt as part of a larger 10-0 run to pull back within six at 34-28. Quieting the crowd and slowing momentum would be Coffeyville's Landon Gasper with a made three to put the Red Ravens back up nine, but it would be the final points of the first half for the visitors as Cloud County would get a Kyle McElroy layup and Athian's fourth made three of the first half to trail by only four at 37-33 heading into halftime.
 
Starting off the second half with a spot-up Justin Graham three to pull within one, Cloud County would threaten to take their first lead of the ballgame on three consecutive possessions as the game would suddenly become a back-and-forth affair. Trailing by a score of 43-40 with 16:51 remaining, Cloud County would get back-to-back layups from McElroy to take their first lead of the game before setting up a made Joe Kearney three to put CCCC up 47-45 two minutes later. A three-point play for Coffeyville that would span the under-15 minute media timeout would allow the Red Ravens to reclaim the lead at 48-47, but it would be short lived as Cloud County would score on each of their next four possessions to go on an 8-0 run to build a 55-48 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining.
 
Just like the first half, Coffeyville would turn to a Glasper three to momentarily quiet what was becoming an enthused Cloud County crowd to set up a stretch of four minutes of gameplay that would see the T-Bird lead hover between three and five points. Breaking the stretch would be a layup from McElroy with 7:47 left in the second half to put Cloud County up 63-56 as distance was now starting to be put between the two teams by the T-Birds heading into the latter stages of the second period. Pushing their lead out to a game-high eight points on a Kearney steal and layup with just over six minutes remaining, Cloud County would endure a nearly five-minute scoring drought that would see Coffeyville cut into the lead with five points get back within three at 67-64 with 3:31 remaining.
 
After seeing the next two minutes of the contest go scoreless to keep things at a three-point Cloud County lead, the T-Birds would get a momentum-building Athian rim-rocking putback dunk off a missed Kearney triple to go back up two possessions heading into the final minute of the game. Forcing a Coffeyville one-and-done offensive possession, the T-Birds would be in position to start bleeding clock as the Red Ravens had only three fouls in the second half and would be forced to foul four times before sending Cloud County to the free-throw line with 28 seconds remaining. Missing the front end of a one-and-one, Cloud County would be forced to go back on defense where they would see the Red Ravens miss another three-point attempt that would lead to a long rebound by the T-Birds before ultimately being turned over.
 
Holding possession of the ball with 19 seconds left and down five, Coffeyville would opt for a timeout to draw up a play for their first of two must-have offensive possessions but see Graham come up big on the defensive end by blocking a three-point attempt by Glasper. With the rebound falling into the hands of Sawyer Jr. Coffeyville would be forced to foul once again with just 12 seconds remaining. Another missed free throw would give the ball back to Coffeyville, but an offensive foul on Glasper would not only foul out the freshman but also lead to a technical foul on the Forrest City, Arkansas native that would give the T-Birds at least three free throws to ice the game away with five seconds left. Sinking both of his free throw attempts would be Sawyer Jr. to put the T-Birds up three possessions before Briggs would add one more on a two-shot foul attempt as Coffeyville would put up one final shot that would miss to give Cloud County the eight-point win.
 
Responding in a big way from the first meeting between teams that saw Cloud County held to a season-low 53 points, the T-Birds would hold Coffeyville to their second-lowest scoring output of the year and 21 points below their season average of 85.3 points. As a team, Cloud County would shoot 42.0 percent (29-of-69) from the field and seven-of-23 (30.4 percent) from beyond the arc to make up for a seven-for-13 (53.8 percent) outing from the charity stripe and 44-41 rebounding deficit. Cloud County would outscore Coffeyville 18-6 in points off turnovers and 9-5 in second-chance points while also scoring all six fast break points in the contest.
 
Big performances from the T-Bird starting five would see Athian score a game-high 18 points on seven-of-14 shooting from the field and a four-of-five outing from three while also grabbing eight rebounds and providing two assists. Following Athian would be a 16-point, seven-rebound outing from Sawyer Jr. while Kearney (15) and Graham (12) would also reach double-digits. Despite scoring just one point in the game, Briggs Jr. would make his presence felt in other ways by grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds to go along with four assists and three steals in 31 minutes of action. Coffeyville had just two players reach double-figures, with bench player Sotirios Nafpliotis scoring a team-high 15 points with five made threes.
 
What's Next?
Things don't let up any for Cloud County as the T-Birds will take on what is expected to be a third-consecutive ranked opponent in Garden City Community College with a 7:30 PM tip-off in Garden City on Wednesday, February 22nd. The Broncbusters are currently ranked number-24 in the latest NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Rankings and have won four consecutive games including a 94-90 overtime road win on Saturday at Pratt Community College. The last meeting between Cloud County and Garden City proved to be a thriller, with overtime being needed as part of a 74-67 road win for the Broncbusters in Concordia.