Men's Basketball | 11/1/2024 9:50:00 PM

Box Score The Cloud County Community College men's basketball team fell in its season opener, 82-64, to No. 11 Indian Hills Community College on Friday, November 1 in the Meridian Credit Union Classic in Ottumwa, Iowa.

The T-Birds got off to a slow start, falling behind by nine points at 11-2 just four minutes into the contest. Cloud County quickly assembled a 10-5 run over the next three minutes, including three-point baskets by redshirt freshman Matthew Garber and sophomore Roy Aviv, to cut Indian Hills' lead down to four points at 16-12. The Warriors' managed to stretch their lead out to 14 with 3:03 remaining in the first-half following a steal and a fast-break dunk by freshman Ater Manyuon. Cloud County freshman Syncere Burnette scored five consecutive points at the end of the opening half to pull the T-Birds back to within nine points at the intermission, 44-35.

Cloud County opened the second half with a three by freshman Kuel Akot and a jumper by redshirt freshman guard Keyon Garrett-Miller. After going back-and-forth, the T-Birds put together a strong 12-3 scoring run, highlighted by a pair of baskets in the paint by freshman Elidjah Savane, a steal and layup by Burnette, and three-pointers by freshman Vuk Zarubica and Garrett-Miller, to tie the game at 56.

Indian Hills regrouped and answered back with a 19-2 run over the next six minutes and eight seconds, capped off by a layup by Manyuon, to put the game out of reach. The Warriors would cruise to the finish line from that point on, outscoring the T-Birds 26-8 over the final ten minutes, en route to the season opening home win.

Indian Hills was led by 6-foot-8 sophomore guard William Beugre-Kassi who scorched the net throughout the night, making 10-of-13 from the field, including 2-of-3 from behind the arc, for a game-high 27 points. Kassi finished with a double-double after he also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Trenton Walters and redshirt freshman guard Amonte Allen-Johnson also reached double-figures for the Warriors. Walters had 19 points off 6-of-13 shooting while knocking down two treys and connecting on 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. Allen-Johnson added 12 points.

Indian Hills connected on 50.9 percent from the field, and went 18-of-29 (62.1 percent) from the foul line. Cloud County shot 42.1 percent from the floor, highlighted by seven made threes, but were just 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from the free-throw line. The T-Birds were outscored in the paint 46-30, and Indian Hills had 12 more fast break points on the night.

Burnette led the way for Cloud County with 12 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Savane had 10 points off 5-of-9 shooting. Garber drilled two three-pointers to finish with 8 points and a team-high 8 rebounds. Garrett-Miller and Zarubica finished with 7 points each. Sophomore guard Fallou Koite added 6 points and 4 rebounds. Akot and Aviv had 5 points each, while freshmen Takeo Moore and Da'Ron Waller both added 2 points.

Cloud County will close out play in the Meridian Credit Union Classic in Ottumwa, Iowa on Saturday, November 2 when they face the Sauk Valley Salthawks at 4:30 pm. Sauk Valley dropped its season opener to Butler Community College on Friday, 91-57.