Cloud County Men's Basketball Team Moves to 5-0 Following 119-59 Rout of Bethany College JV
Racing out to a double-digit lead five minutes into the game, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team would have little issue in breaking the century mark and running away with a 119-59 rout of the Bethany College JV team inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Monday, November 13th.
The win allows Cloud County to remain unbeaten on the year, improving to 5-0 and remaining as one of just two unbeaten teams in the 13-team Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference.
Scoring the first eight points of the game, Cloud County would waste no time attacking the paint and utilizing a size advantage as the first four buckets of the game would be scored by four different players. After a Bethany JV triple that would get the Swedes on the board with 16:58 remaining in the first half, the T-Birds would score seven of the next nine to go up 17-5 before extending their lead to 13 at 21-8 on a Ja'ron Briggs Jr. steal and layup with 12:13 left in the opening period. A layup from Kyle McElroy and a field goal from Cheikh Sow would add to the lead three minutes later as CCCC would continue to impose their will on an undersized Bethany JV squad with the advantage for Cloud County reaching the 20-point mark at 34-14 on an Emmanuel Manyuon three with just under eight minutes left before halftime. The advantage for the T-Birds would continue to grow down the stretch of the first half, with CCCC pushing their lead to over 30 at 51-21 with 2:19 left in the period on an Ian Lavalaye layup while scoring the final 13 points of the half to lead 56-21 at the break.
Not much would change in the second half for Cloud County as a 7-0 run would come following a Bethany JV three to open the period before pushing their lead to 40 on a dunk by Sow off an assist from Briggs Jr. The lead would reach the 50-point mark with 13:10 left in the contest as CCCC would go up 82-31 on an offensive rebound and put back from Prentice Young Jr. with a seven-plus minute scoring drought for Bethany JV allowing the T-Birds to continue to add to their lead. The final 10 minutes of action would see Cloud County manage to get their bench meaningful minutes and experience as all 12 players who suited up for the T-Birds would play at least 12 minutes of game time and find their way into the scoring column on their way to a 60-point victory.
Not many missed shots would occur on Cloud County's end of the court as CCCC would shoot over 70 percent from the field in both halves to finish the game 49-of-69 (71.0 percent) from the field while going seven-for-20 (35.0 percent) from three and 14-of-18 (77.8 percent) from the free-throw line. Bethany JV would be limited to a 32.8 percent (20-of-61) outing from the floor while seeing 15 of their made field goals come from beyond the arc (15-of-46, 32.6 percent) while hitting on all four of their free throw attempts.
A team-high 20 points would come from Abdoulaye Fall on nine-of-11 shooting in 17 minutes of action while Sow (15), Lavalaye (14), and Briggs Jr. (12) would also reach double-figures. Both Lavalaye and Briggs Jr. would bring down a team-best seven rebounds with Sow adding four steals while five other players for CCCC each scored at least eight points (Roy Aviv, McElroy, Manyuon, Moise Balungu, and Young Jr.). Bethany JV got a game-high 24 from Noah Simiskey who had four made triples and five assists in the game.
What's Next?
CCCC will begin preparations for their 2023-24 KJCCC opener which will come at home on Saturday, November 18th against Seward County Community College at 4 PM. The Saints are 2-2 overall after going 2-1 at the Eastern Arizona College Gila Monster Shootout in Thatcher, Arizona last week, with both wins coming in their past two contests. Most recently, the Saints earned a 98-90 win over the College of Southern Nevada after winning 78-77 over Eastern Arizona College the day before. The last two seasons have seen CCCC and SCCC split each year, with both teams winning on their home courts both times.