MCC men unleash 94 feet of fury tonight

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook Community College men’s basketball team opens the season this weekend in the MCC Tip-Off Classic.

The Indians open play at 7 p.m. tonight against Louisiana Christian Prep and follow that Saturday with a 5 p.m. game against a team of MCC all-stars.

Last season the Indians finished the season 18-13 under Coach Brandon Lenhart.

With eight freshman and a sophomore transfer, the team on the floor will be much different than a season ago.

“We are going to get after it defensively for 94 feet and 40 minutes,” Lenhart. “We want to be disruptive on defense and push the pace. It’s back to 94 Feet of Fury.”

With the high tempo Lenhart believes that every given night he has the potential to play 13 players.

“This is the deepest team that I’ve had at MCC. I think they will be able to score in a multitude of ways,” Lenhart said.

MCC’s top returner is 6-3 guard Peanut Cunningham (Louisville, Kent.) who was named to the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference team. Cunningham averaged 11.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

“He’s worked hard to improve his game, his body, and his skills a ton since the end of last season,” Lenhart said.

Ron Rice, 6-3 guard, (Hudson H.S. New York, N.Y.) enters his third year at MCC after season-ending knee injuries limited his time the past two years. He was able to gain of third year of eligibility with a medical redshirt.

Guards Antonije Petrovic (Pancevo, Serbia), 6-3, and Andy White, (Wareham, Mass.) 6-1, both saw action a year ago .

The coach also looks for AV Banks (Portageville, Mo.) a 5-10 redshirt freshman guard, to be a high-level contributor at both point guard and the off-guard position for the Indians.

Jacob Boden, a 6-4 guard (Stockholm, Sweden) comes to MCC as a transfer from New Mexico Junior College and brings a wealth of experience and can play all three guard positions.

MCC’s lone returning forward is 6-5, 225-pound Amadou Dieye (Collegiate Prep Academy, Senegal). He saw limited duty a year ago but in the 11 games he played, shot 54.4 percent from the floor and scored 16 points with 16 rebounds in 54 total minutes of playing time.

Richard Gray 6-5 forward (Oklahoma City) is a redshirt sophomore who sustained a knee injury two years ago and has worked hard.