NCTA Aggie men's team 1-2 during weekend

CURTIS -- The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture men's basketball team posted a 1-2 record during weekend play.

NCTA lost to Barclay College from Haviland, Kan., 118-50 Friday night. The Aggies were short-handed, playing with only seven players.

The game finished in a 4-on-5 situation for the Aggies due to the number of fouls the home team collected throughout the game.

Against the Barclay Bears, Joe Suchsland of Agra, Kan., and Josiah Stroup of Benkelman combined for 15 and 18 points. Suchsland also grabbed 10 rebounds for his first double-double of his college career.

"I was impressed with the effort that the players put forth," said NCTA coach Jeremy Sievers. "It was just a hard night for us in the foul situation, and with the limited bench we had to use for subs."

The Aggies lost 75-60 to Nebraska Christian College from Omaha Saturday.

The two teams met earlier over the Christmas break at the Holiday Tournament at William Penn in Iowa. Nebraska Christian won that game 90-44.

Stroup and Jake Guthard of Pleasanton teamed up on Saturday afternoon to score 23 and 10 points. Guthard also grabbed a team high 12 rebounds.

"I was impressed with the way the team responded to the short rest, playing two games within 18 hours of each other," Sievers said.

"We didn't win, but we played a lot better than we did the first time we meet them two weeks ago. Nebraska Christian got out to a big lead on us and we were able to fight back, just not enough to close the gap completely."

The Aggies treated the students as they returned to classes to a win against the Wallace Town Team 76-63 Monday night.

Most of the damage was done behind the 3-point line for the Aggies, shooting a team total of 11 3-pointers for the game.

Suchsland led the Aggies with seven 3-pointers and a team high 33 points. Guthard also scored 11 points and led the team with 14 rebounds.

After Monday night's game Guthard now leads the Aggies with four double-doubles on the season.

"I was impressed with our outside shooting tonight against the Wallace Town Team," Sievers said. "There were moments in the second half, however, when we got away from going to our inside game and that did not allow us to put the game away.

"Taking some of the outside shots and not working into the paint allowed Wallace to chip away at the lead, but we were able to hold onto the lead for a victory."

NCTA will be back in action again this weekend. The Aggies play Barclay College in a women's and men's doubleheader starting at 2:30 p.m. at the Community Center in Curtis.

The women's game on Saturday will be the NCTA team's first action of 2009. The Aggie women feature many new faces on the roster.