Men's Basketball | 11/2/2024 7:26:00 PM

Box Score The Cloud County Community College men's basketball team used a second-half run to best Sauk Valley Community College, 82-64, to capture their first win of the season on the final day of the Meridian Credit Union Classic at the Hellyer Student Life Center in Ottumwa, Iowa.

Freshman Syncere Burnette led the team with 23 points in 23 minutes of work, going 7-of-10 from three-point range. Burnette, a 6-foot-1 guard from Raleigh, North Carolina, brought a spark off the bench, burying six three-pointers during a five minute and twenty eight second stretch in the second-half that saw a three point Cloud County lead quickly balloon to 17 points. Burnette also had four rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Redshirt freshman Matthew Garber connected on four-made triples and scored 16 points to go with seven rebounds, three steals and two assists. Redshirt freshman guard Keyon Garrett-Miller had 11 points and three assists, while freshman forward Elidjah Savane also reached double-figures with 11 points and five rebounds.

The T-Birds earned their first win under rookie head coach Kyle Pugh by hitting 13 three-pointers, eight of them in the second half, while also capitalizing on Sauk Valley's turnovers, converting 25 points off of 18 takeaways. Cloud County's stifling defense and hard work on the glass enabled the T-Birds to get off 16 more field goal attempts than that of Sauk Valley.

The Skyhawks struggled to get in a rhythm throughout the contest, finishing the night just 3-of-20 (15 percent) from long-range and 22-of-59 (37.3 percent) overall from the floor.

Garber highlighted an early 16-2 run for Cloud County, hitting two three-pointers to propel the T-Birds to a 20-7 lead at the 11:57 mark of the first half.

Sauk Valley slowly inched their way back into the game, ending the opening half on a 14-5 run over the final 7:34 to pull to within a point at 34-33 headed into halftime.

The game remained close through the first five minutes of the second-half before Burnette hit six three-pointers during an impressive second-half stretch. Burnette hit his first three-pointer of the second-half with 14:50 remaining. He made five more shots from downtown over the next five minutes and twenty eight seconds, including three-straight triples in a one minute and twenty two second span, that pushed the Cloud County lead out to 59-42 with 9:22 to play.

The Skyhawks would get no closer than 15 points the rest of the way.

Less than 24 hours after a second half scoring drought doomed the T-Birds in their first game of the year in an 82-64 loss to No. 11 Indian Hills, Cloud County was much more aggressive offensively against Sauk Valley. The T-Birds shot 44.1 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from three-point range over the final twenty minutes. The team ended the night 28-of-75 (37.3 percent) from the floor, 13-of-32 (40.6 percent) from behind the arc, and 13-of-18 (72.2%) from the free-throw line.

Cloud County outrebounded Sauk Valley 47-40, led by freshman Vuk Zarubica's 11 rebounds, including eight on the offensive side. The T-Birds also had 36 points off the bench compared to just 12 for the Skyhawks.

Up next, the T-Birds come back to Concordia for their home opener on Thursday, November 7 when they host Kansas Wesleyan JV. Tip is set for 8 pm from Arley Bryant Gymnasium. The game will be streamed on the T-Bird Sports Network.