Kansas squad too much for MCC men

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Drew Diediker (22) of McCook Comunity College and Ronald Cobb of Garden City (Kan.) CC battle for a rebound during men's college basketball action at the True Hall gym Tuesday evening. Diediker is an MCC sophomore from Allen, Neb. Garden City topped the Indians 87-77. [Click to enlarge]

The McCook Community College men's basketball team got turned inside-out by the Garden City Community College Broncbusters Tuesday night.

The Indians dropped an 87-77 decision to the Kansas squad in non-conference action at the True Hall gym on the McCook C.C. campus.

Garden City hurt the Indians all night long with a solid game plan, according to MCC head coach Brandon Lenhart.

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette McCook CC sophomore Keenan Gaskin (right) applies defensive pressure against Vincent Banks (24) of Garden City Community College as Banks tries to inbound the basketball at True Hall gym Tuesday night. [Click to enlarge]

"I felt that Garden City, from start to finish, they had a game plan and they stuck to it," Coach Lenhart said. "They worked inside-out, something that we try to do day-in, day-out -- and that wasn't what we did and what we got accomplished (Tuesday). Garden City definitely worked inside-out. In every facet of the game, I felt as though that they beat us. They really came to play Our guys really didn't come to play tonight.

"They (Garden City) were getting every loose ball. They were knocking down their free throws and they were getting easy shots. I thought they made things difficult on us tonight. Really that's not typical of our team. We usually try to get into the heart of the defense and work from the inside-out. We kind of figured it out a little late (in the game) to do those types of things, which in turn opened up some things down the stretch.

"I wish we would have had a little bit better performance out of our bench tonight, but that just didn't happen. Garden City was obviously pretty deep and they had pretty good productivity out of their bench."

McCook led 13-9 midway through the first half, then Garden City scored eight unanswered points to take the lead for good. Andrew Hansen, MCC sophomore guard from South County, R.I., hit consecutive 3-point shots to keep the Indians close at 29-24 with three minutes left in the first half.

MCC hit four of six free throws at the end of the half, and Garden City countered with a pair of 3-point shots by guard Chris McHenry as the Broncbusters stretched the lead to 42-30 at intermission.

Dye leads MCC second-half rally

The Indians opened the second half with consecutive field goals by freshman guard Antonio Dye (Mishawaka, Ind.). MCC trailed 50-41 after Hanson's two free throws with just over 15 minutes remaining. Garden City used a 10-0 run to claim its biggest lead of the night.

Dye and Hanson knocked down 3-point shots to cut the MCC deficit to 60-49 with just over nine minutes to go. But the Kansas squad quickly stretched the lead to a more comfortable 15 points.

The Indians had one late run left. Sophomore forward Marcus Landry (Sulphur, La.) hit a shot in the lane to pull MCC within 74-62 with just over three minutes left.

Landry grabbed to key rebounds on Garden City's next two possessions to ignite the MCC comeback bid. Hanson knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner, and Dye hit a '3' from the right wing to pull the hosts within 74-68 with 2:40 remaining.

Garden City answered with an 8-2 run to push the lead back to 12 points with just over a minute left. MCC would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Broncs counter

Coach Lenhart said Garden City had a deadly answer every time his team tried to rally.

"We looked tired, looked a little dead," he said. "I thought that we were doing things that we needed to do to get over the hump, but they would just stick a dagger in our hearts and then take that away from us. We were right there several times, but they would stick that dagger in our heart and take it away, take away our run."

Garden City hit 20 of 24 free throws, while MCC was 13 of 26 at the line. The Indians hit 10 of 28 shots from three-point range (35.7 percent), while the Busters were 5 of 10 (50 percent) beyond the 3-point arc.

The hosts had three players in double figures, led by Antonio Dye with 23 points. Dye hit 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range. Andrew Hanson had 22 points and Marcus Landry added 11. Garden City was led by Chris McHenry with 22 points.

Coach seeks improvement

Although Tuesday's contest was not as critical as upcoming Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference and NJCAA Region IX games starting in January, Coach Lenhart said every game matters to his team's goal of becoming a better team.

"Everything matters when you're trying to get better," he said. "We're just trying to get better and trying to be playing our best basketball come March.

"I'm proud of our team. I think we've come a long way. Tonight was just a step back, so to speak, right now. But we look forward to the games ahead to see the types of steps we'll be taking forward for the upcoming weeks."

Thanksgiving weekend tourney

The Indians, 6-4, will try to get back on track this weekend with Thanksgiving holiday tournament action on the home court. MCC will host the four-team event Friday and Saturday at the True Hall gym. Otero Junior College of La Junta, Colo., will compete along with the York College junior varsity and the MCC All-Stars, a team of former players from McCook and the surrounding area.

The Indians will face the MCC All-Stars Friday at 8 p.m. and the York College JV Saturday at 6 p.m.

Lenhart hopes local fans will come out this weekend and continue to support his team.

"We want to thank the community for coming out and giving us the support (Tuesday)," Lenhart said. "We are disappointed in the loss and our performance for the community to see, but we definitely appreciate that support and hopefully everybody will look to come out and watch us play some more."

MCC THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT

Friday-Saturday at True Hall gym,

McCook Community College campus

Friday's Games

Otero (Colo.) Junior College vs. York College JV, 6 p.m.

McCook Community College vs. MCC All-Stars, 8 p.m.

Saturday's Games

Otero (Colo.) Junior College vs. MCC All-Stars, 4 p.m.

McCook Community College vs. York College JV, 6 p.m.