Cloud County Improves to 3-0, Concludes McDonald's Classic with 75-41 Win Over State Fair Community College
Overcoming a back-and-forth start to the third and final game of the opening week of the season, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team would use a 21-2 run to break things open and run away with what would become a 75-41 win over State Fair Community College inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center on the campus of State Fair Community College in Sedalia, Missouri on Saturday, November 4th.
Going 2-0 at the McDonald's Classic to improve to 3-0 on the season, Cloud County is off to their best start under third-year head coach Devin Kastrup since the 2020-21 season that also featured a 3-0 start to the season. State Fair drops their first game of the year to fall to 2-1 overall after picking up two wins in the opening three days of the season.
The 21-2 run that would turn a 7-7 contest into a commanding 28-9 lead for the T-Birds would manage to grow throughout the remainder of the opening half of play as CCCC would manage to build a 46-16 lead at intermission after shooting 64.0 percent (16-of-25) from the field. With the large advantage in place, Cloud County would be able to run their offense and work the clock in the second half as State Fair would never get closer than 24 at 49-25 before seeing Cloud County score eight of the next 10 to go back up 30 at 57-27. The T-Bird lead would eventually reach a game-high 35 as CCCC would double up the Roadrunners 70-35 in the latter stages of the game before emptying the bench to get all 12 players who suited up into the game and managing to match the intensity that had been seen throughout the first 35 minutes of action to take the 34-point victory.
Outscoring State Fair in both halves, Cloud County would hold the Roadrunners to a 23.1 percent (12-of-52) shooting percentage which included a six-for-26 (23.1 percent) outing from beyond the arc while hitting on 50.0 percent (24-for-48) of their own shots while going six-of-14 (42.9 percent) from three. Free throw shooting would also benefit the T-Birds as a 21-for-26 (80.8 percent) effort would see CCCC outscore SFCC 21-11 at the charity stripe in addition to holding a 40-32 advantage on the glass.
A game-high 19 points from sophomore Cheikh Sow would see Thies, Senegal native finish just three points of matching his career-high while also providing six rebounds, three assists, three steals, and one block in 30 minutes of action. Bol Agu would add 14 points off the bench and grab four rebounds while seeing Ja'Ron Briggs Jr. finish with 13 points and finish with a team-high seven rebounds. Also reaching double-figures in the scoring column would be Emmanuel Manyuon after hitting on three triples in the first half and going four-of-five from the field in addition to recording four rebounds and three steals. State Fair would not have any player with more than 11 points in the game as Thomas Diew and Alex Gunnels each had 11 points to account for 22 of the 41 points scored by SFCC.
What's Next?
CCCC will have a full week off in preparation for their next game which will take place at home on Saturday, November 11th when the T-Birds play host to Northeast Community College at 4 PM. The Hawks are 1-0 under first-year head coach Josh Clark and will host Southeast Community College on Tuesday, November 7th before making the trek down Highway 81 to Concordia.