Cloud County Men's Basketball Notches 73-53 Road Win at Colby
Controlling the glass and keeping host Colby from scoring any second-chance points, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team would slowly break open a five-point halftime advantage into a 20-point lead in the final minute of the game on their way to a 73-53 road victory inside the Colby Events Center in Colby, Kansas on Sunday, December 10th.
Working their way back into the win column to improve to 9-3 overall, Cloud County is now 4-3 overall in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while Colby falls to 5-7 overall and 1-5 in the KJCCC with their sixth loss in their past seven games.
After falling behind 5-0 in the opening 2:35 of action, Cloud County would see a quick substitution pay off in a big way as freshman Isaiah Sy would come off the bench and connect on three-straight three-point attempts on consecutive possessions to put the T-Birds up 9-5 with 16:12 left in the first half. Adding to their lead with a pair of Abdoulaye Fall free throws and a Cheikh Sow layup, CCCC would continue what would become a 16-0 run with another Sy triple as the lead for Cloud County would reach double-figures at 16-5 with just under 13 minutes left in the opening period. Sy would continue to play the role of sharpshooter in the first half, hitting his fifth three of the game to put CCCC up 21-13 as 18 of the first 24 points for the T-Birds would be scored by the Marseilles, France native thanks in part to six-of-eight shooting in the first half from beyond the arc.
Holding a 24-13 lead at the midway point of the first half, Cloud County would see Colby respond with five straight points on back-to-back possessions to pull back within six before using a Ja'ron Briggs Jr. steal and breakaway dunk to slow the Trojan momentum and go back up three possessions. The lead for the T-Birds would be pushed back out to 10 on a layup from Fall with 5:24 remaining in the half as CCCC would continue to keep Colby from making a big push to close the gap as the score would sit at 35-26 with 2:38 remaining following a pair of made free throws from Sow. After the free throws, the Trojans would get a three-point play on their next offensive possession before forcing a one-and-done possession for Cloud County that would be followed by Colby's seventh made three of the first half to bring the score back down to just a three-point margin. Cloud County would respond with the final bucket of the first half as Emmanuel Manyuon would get a backdoor layup off a pass from Sy to stop the run by Colby and end the first period by holding a 37-32 advantage.
Trading layups in the opening 30 seconds of the second half, Cloud County would see Colby pull within one possession on three separate occasions in the opening minutes once play resumed as the T-Birds would be forced to try and match the offensive output from the Trojans to maintain their lead. Weathering the storm before pushing their lead back out to seven on a pair of made free throws by Fall, Cloud County would continue to be aggressive offensively and attack the paint which would lead to layups and free throw attempts to allow CCCC to add to their lead and get things back out to a 12-point advantage at 55-43 with 11:17 remaining.
The lead for Cloud County would remain double-digits over the next four-plus minutes of action as Colby would be unable to get any closer than 10 before seeing the T-Birds go on a 7-1 run that would extend their advantage to 16 at 62-46 as CCCC would be on the verge of putting the game out of reach with just over five minutes remaining. One final surge from Colby would see the Trojans score four straight points before sending Prentice Young Jr. to the free throw line to connect on one of two attempts and be followed by one final three from Sy that would push the lead back out to 16 at 66-50 and all but end the hope of a potential Colby comeback as the score would get no closer down the final stretch.
Shooting over 45 percent from the floor in both halves, Cloud County would finish the game 23-of-50 (46.0 percent) from the field and nine-of-22 (40.9 percent) from three while hitting on 18-of-22 (81.8 percent) of their free throw attempts in what would be a return to the type of play that had catapulted the T-Birds into the NJCAA Division I Top-25 poll earlier this season. Outrebounding Colby 32-24, CCCC would score all 11 second-chance points scored in the contest and hold a 24-14 advantage in points in the paint while scoring 24 points off 21 Trojan turnovers.
A fifth-straight game in double-figures for Sy would see a game-high 25 points come on eight-of-15 shooting from the field to go along with four rebounds while finishing one point shy of matching his career-high set last week at Dodge City. Joining Sy in double-figures would be Briggs Jr. (15), Fall (13), and Sow (10) with Manyuon (five), Bol Agu (four), and Young Jr. (two) would also work their way into the scoring column. Mark Malekinusic would lead Colby with a team-high 16 points and add 16 rebounds in 31 minutes of play for the Trojans.
What's Next?
Cloud County will take on their third nationally-ranked foe of the season in their final game of the 2023 portion of their schedule when they play their non-conference finale at number 14-ranked Indian Hills Community College at 7 PM on Saturday, December 30th. IHCC is 9-3 overall on the season with all three losses coming to teams ranked in the top-five of the NJCAA Division I Top-25 poll at the time of the game. The Warriors will host Seward County Community College on Thursday, December 14th before their game with CCCC as their game with the T-Birds will be the eighth of a season-long nine-game homestand.