Men's Basketball | 11/13/2024 12:21:00 AM

Box Score The Cloud County Community College men's basketball team overcame a sluggish shooting first half by piecing together a 28-6 run to start the second half before pulling away for a 91-52 victory over Sterling College JV on Tuesday, November 12 inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium.

Sterling College never threatened in the first half, falling behind by fourteen points at one stage at 28-12, but early shooting woes prevented the T-Birds from being able to stretch their lead. Cloud County ended the first half 0-of-14 from behind the arc and the T-Birds settled for a 38-30 lead going into the intermission.

The T-Birds came out of the locker room and started lighting up the scoreboard early and often in the second half. Freshman Kuel Akot and redshirt freshman Matthew Garber both connected on three-point attempts as part of an early 11-2 run to give Cloud County a 17-point advantage at 49-32 with 16:17 to play. Shortly after, Garber sank his second three-pointer of the half, capping a 19-4 surge. By the time freshman Elidjah Savane connected on two made free-throws with 8:20 to go, Cloud County had pushed its lead out to 30 points at 66-36 before ultimately cruising to the 39-point victory.

The T-Birds finished the night shooting 34-of-80 (42.5 percent) from the field, including 7-of-31 (22.6 percent) from behind the arc. Sterling College shot 16-of-64 (25.0 percent) for the game and was limited to just 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) from three-point range.

Cloud County was led by redshirt freshman Keyon Garrett-Miller with 14 points and three assists. Garber and freshman Amare Johnson each had 12 points. Garber also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Savane chipped in 11 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots. Akot had nine points and five rebounds. Sophomore Fallou Koite added eight points and four rebounds, while freshman Syncere Burnette had five points, four rebounds and four steals, and freshman Vuk Zarubica had five points and nine rebounds.

The T-Birds (4-1) make one final road trip before the start of Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play when they head to North Platte, Nebraska on Saturday, November 16 to face the North Platte Knights at 4 pm. The two programs have met eight times since 2018 with Cloud County holding a 5-3 series lead. The T-Birds won the most recent meeting in North Platte on November 9, 2022, 74-62.