Cloud County Men's Basketball Earns First Win with 76-62 Victory Over Iowa Lakes

Hitting on over 50 percent of their shots in both halves, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team would jump out to an early lead and never trail in a 76-62 neutral site victory over NJCAA Division II number 14-ranked Iowa Lakes Community College at the RV & Power Sport Classic hosted by Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa on Saturday, November 5th.

Earning their first win of the season, Cloud County finishes the weekend by splitting their two contests against teams from the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference to move to 1-2 overall while Iowa Lakes falls for the first time on the year to drop to 1-1.

A big factor in the T-Birds getting out to a quick start would be CCCC's ability to find their range from beyond the arc as Cloud County would hit on three of their first four three-point attempts while outscoring the Lakers 12-4 in the opening 3:31 of the game. Following a pair of ILCC free throws to cut Cloud County's lead to six, the T-Birds would get a Malang Athian jump shot in the paint followed by an Andre Gray II made three to take their first double-digit lead of the first half at 17-6. Iowa Lakes would respond by scoring the next eight points of the game to get back within three at 17-14 with just over 10 minutes left in the opening period before seeing Cheikh Sow get in the scoring column with a layup to push the lead back to five.

Another four quick points for ILCC would see the once double-digit T-Bird lead down to just one with 8:53 left in the first half as CCCC would start to be slowed down offensively due to unforced turnovers. Without things clicking offensively, Cloud County would stand tall on defense and manage to hold Iowa Lakes scoreless for a stretch of 5:09 that would allow the T-Birds to hit a couple of shots and get the lead back to seven at 25-18. Down to just over three minutes of play left in the half, CCCC would add to their lead with a Joe Kearney triple before getting a pair of Ja'ron Briggs Jr. free throws just two possessions later. Four of the final six points would then be scored by the T-Birds in the final 35 seconds to push their lead back to double-digits by going up 36-24 at the half.

Picking up where they left off, Cloud County would add to their lead in the opening minutes of the second half to go up 15 at 45-30 as the T-Birds would be in control of the game. CCCC would maintain their double-digit lead over the course of the next four minutes of action, eventually making it an 18-point margin following a Justin Graham layup with 10:49 left in the game as the T-Birds would threaten to put the game out of reach heading into the latter stages of the second.

The lead for CCCC would reach its high-water mark at the 8:23 mark of the second half as a dunk from Graham would put Cloud County up 61-40 with the T-Birds reaching their season offensive average with plenty of time still left on the clock. Unfortunately for CCCC, the amount of time left would prove to be to the advantage of Iowa Lakes as the Lakers would score seven of the next nine points to cut the lead to 65-49 before going on a 9-0 run to bring the once 21-point lead down to just 10 with 2:56 remaining. Down two starters due to foul troubles, Cloud County would need to look towards bench players down the stretch to try and close out the game as a Jalen Smith layup would snap a two-minute scoreless stretch for the T-Birds to go back up 12. From that point forward, CCCC's lead would never drop below 11 as free throws would ice the game away with the Lakers unable to find enough offense to mount a comeback.

Taking just 43 shots in the contest, Cloud County would scorch the nets in the opening period by going 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) from the floor while hitting 50 percent (five-for-10) on their three-point attempts to build their halftime lead. For the game, CCCC would shoot 55.8 percent (24-of-43) and nine-for-19 (47.4 percent) from beyond the arc despite missing 10 free throws (19-of-29).

Scoring a game-high 19 points would be Graham on seven-of-10 shooting to go along with five rebounds and one assist while both Corey Sawyer Jr. (16) and Kearney (13) would join the sophomore in double-figures. Sow would provide a team-best 11 rebounds to offset being limited to just four points in the contest as CCCC would out rebound Iowa Lakes 40-29 despite giving up 11 offensive rebounds to ILCC. The Lakers would be led by Anthony Holden with 15 points with only two players reaching double figures.

What's Next?
Cloud County will continue their season-long four-game stretch away from home when the T-Birds head to North Platte, Nebraska to play against North Platte Community College with a 7 PM tip-off on Wednesday, November 9th. Having played the Knights already this season, CCCC will look to avenge a season-opening 68-56 loss to NPCC that occurred on November 1st.