Second Half Scoring Drought Leads to Season Opening Loss for Cloud County Against No. 11 Indian Hills

The Cloud County Community College men's basketball team fell in its season opener, 82-64, to No. 11 Indian Hills Community College on Friday, November 1 in the Meridian Credit Union Classic in Ottumwa, Iowa.

The T-Birds got off to a slow start, falling behind by nine points at 11-2 just four minutes into the contest. Cloud County quickly assembled a 10-5 run over the next three minutes, including three-point baskets by redshirt freshman Matthew Garber and sophomore Roy Aviv, to cut Indian Hills' lead down to four points at 16-12. The Warriors' managed to stretch their lead out to 14 with 3:03 remaining in the first-half following a steal and a fast-break dunk by freshman Ater Manyuon. Cloud County freshman Syncere Burnette scored five consecutive points at the end of the opening half to pull the T-Birds back to within nine points at the intermission, 44-35.

Cloud County opened the second half with a three by freshman Kuel Akot and a jumper by redshirt freshman guard Keyon Garrett-Miller. After going back-and-forth, the T-Birds put together a strong 12-3 scoring run, highlighted by a pair of baskets in the paint by freshman Elidjah Savane, a steal and layup by Burnette, and three-pointers by freshman Vuk Zarubica and Garrett-Miller, to tie the game at 56.

Indian Hills regrouped and answered back with a 19-2 run over the next six minutes and eight seconds, capped off by a layup by Manyuon, to put the game out of reach. The Warriors would cruise to the finish line from that point on, outscoring the T-Birds 26-8 over the final ten minutes, en route to the season opening home win.

Indian Hills was led by 6-foot-8 sophomore guard William Beugre-Kassi who scorched the net throughout the night, making 10-of-13 from the field, including 2-of-3 from behind the arc, for a game-high 27 points. Kassi finished with a double-double after he also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Trenton Walters and redshirt freshman guard Amonte Allen-Johnson also reached double-figures for the Warriors. Walters had 19 points off 6-of-13 shooting while knocking down two treys and connecting on 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. Allen-Johnson added 12 points.

Indian Hills connected on 50.9 percent from the field, and went 18-of-29 (62.1 percent) from the foul line. Cloud County shot 42.1 percent from the floor, highlighted by seven made threes, but were just 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from the free-throw line. The T-Birds were outscored in the paint 46-30, and Indian Hills had 12 more fast break points on the night.

Burnette led the way for Cloud County with 12 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Savane had 10 points off 5-of-9 shooting. Garber drilled two three-pointers to finish with 8 points and a team-high 8 rebounds. Garrett-Miller and Zarubica finished with 7 points each. Sophomore guard Fallou Koite added 6 points and 4 rebounds. Akot and Aviv had 5 points each, while freshmen Takeo Moore and Da'Ron Waller both added 2 points.

Cloud County will close out play in the Meridian Credit Union Classic in Ottumwa, Iowa on Saturday, November 2 when they face the Sauk Valley Salthawks at 4:30 pm. Sauk Valley dropped its season opener to Butler Community College on Friday, 91-57.