Butler, Ellery lead LCCC past Northwest College
Feb. 9—CHEYENNE — The Laramie County Community College men's basketball team dominated the second half en route to a 103-96 win over Northwest College on Friday night at Storey Gym.
The Golden Eagles got off to a rocky start through the first 10 minutes of play, but came alive over the final 30 minutes of the contest to come away with their second consecutive conference win.
"It's a big win for us," LCCC coach DeWayne Saulsberry said. "Any conference win is a big win. I really enjoyed watching the guys play tonight, especially for the first 35 minutes. I was really proud of them."
Northwest College jumped out to a 14-10 lead just past the 13-minute media time out, thanks to a 6-0 run. But LCCC responded, putting together a 5-0 run of its own to take the lead 15-14. After exchanging buckets, the Trappers went on a 10-0 run to take a 26-17 lead with under nine minutes to play in the half.
"We always talk about taking it personal in the huddle on defense," freshman guard Davion Butler said. "We felt like they were simply able to drive to the rim and get easy layups and putbacks. They were outworking us on the glass."
Following the basket that made it 26-17, the Eagles desperately needed someone to provide a spark to get things back on track. Freshman guard Ejay Scroggins stepped up to provide the necessary spark.
The Golden Eagles went on a 12-4 run over the next four minutes to take cut the Northwest lead to just two points. The run was sparked by an emphatic, contested dunk by Scroggins, who fired up the bench and crowd inside Storey Gym. He also added five consecutive points to cut it to a one-score game.
"He's been big ever since after Christmas," Saulsberry said. "That dunk was huge for us and he's our Energizer Bunny. When he got that dunk, you could see it in our guys' eyes that we were ready to compete."
Following three consecutive empty possessions, Pedro Ellery knocked down a deep 3 from the wing to put LCCC back in front with less than four minutes to go in the half. The teams exchanged the lead two more times before LCCC went up by three points to close the half out.
LCCC outscored Northwest 30-21 over the opening 10 minutes of the first half. The stretch was highlighted by eight straight points from Ellery and flashy dunks from Scroggins. Sophomore guard Jordan Reed capped off the stretch with an and-one to put LCCC up by 14 — its largest lead of the game to that point.
The Eagles built their lead to 15 points wit just over 11 minutes to play, but Northwest continued to chip away and cut the lead to just six points with just over four minutes to go.
Following Northwest's layup that cut the lead to six, LCCC put together a 7-0 run to take a 13-point lead with just over three minutes to play in the game. But once again, the Trappers refused to go away and forced back-to-back turnovers to make it 99-92 with 20.6 seconds remaining.
It was as close as the Trappers got, as Reed and Butler closed out the game at the free-throw line to secure the Eagles' win.
Both Butler and Ellery netted new career highs on the night, posting 27 and 24 points, respectively. Scroggins also chipped in 21 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
LCCC will be back in action at 4 p.m. today against Central Wyoming, which got the better of the Eagles earlier in the season. The key to turning it around this time is on the defensive end, according to Ellery.
"We know we need to zone in on the defensive end," Ellery said. "As long as we stick to our core principles, I feel like we will be strong tomorrow."
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Matt Atencio covers Laramie County prep sports for WyoSports. He can be reached at matencio@wyosports.net. Follow him on X at @MattAtencio5.
