Indians begin Region IX play on Saturday

SCOTTSBLUFF, NEb. — The McCook Community College men’s basketball team heads to Scottsbluff Saturday for the opening game of the Region IX post-season basketball tournament.

The Indians (18-12, 5-11 in conference play), drew a No. 7 seed and take on second seeded Western Nebraska (22-7, 12-4) at Cougar Palace in Scottsbluff at 7 p.m. CST.

MCC lost both matchups this season against Western Nebraska, losing a 91-85 road decision on Jan. 20 and a 77-75 loss Feb. 23 in the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center.

The Cougars went into last weekend having lost three of four games before sweeping MCC and North Platte to end the season.

The Indians went 3-6 in February before closing out the season Feb. 24 with a 75-58 win over Eastern Wyoming at home.

Other matchups include No. 6 seed North Platte (15-12, 8-8) at third-seeded Trinidad State Junior College (19-9, 9-7) at 7 p.m. CST Saturday.

In the other half of the bracket eighth seeded Northeastern Junior College (12-18, 5-11) plays at top seeded Otero Junior College (26-3, 14-2) at 8 p.m. CST Saturday, and fifth seeded Laramie County Community College (17-13, 9-7) travels to fourth seeded Lamar Community College (19-11, 9-7) for an 8 p.m. CST game Saturday.

The winners of the first-round games will advance to the quarterfinals of the Region IX Tournament, which will be held at the location of the highest seed remaining after the first round games March 8-10.

Watch for results and more details in Monday’s edition of the Gazette.

Also, the Indians have finished their official spring sports schedule and more can be seen today on Page 11.