The CWC men's basketball team hit the road last week to face off against three nationally recognized programs. With trips to Sterling, CO to play Northeastern JC and Twin Falls, ID to play against #14 Snow and #7 College of Southern Idaho. "I knew coming into the season this was going to be our hardest week of games. Playing a true road game at NJC and playing two of the best teams in the nation at CSI was a tall task for the team. Overall I was pleased we came away with one win," commented Coach Schmit on the week of games. 

 

Game one took place on Tuesday against NJC. The Rustlers got off the bus from a six-hour ride and started the game like they were still on the bus, scoring a measly 2 points in the first 5 minutes of the game. After a quick six-point explosion off the bench from Lucas Engle, a local Riverton player, the Rustlers gained control of the game and never relinquished the lead. Engle was just one of many bench players that contributed to the outcome. Player of the Game, Jaren Miller scored 15 points, Trey Simms kept his hot play up with 13, Deotis Nunn chipped in 11, and in his first significant minutes for the Rustlers, Lucas Engle scored a career-high 10 points. 

"We are a team. All 11 guys on our roster are capable of impacting the game. Tonight our bench scored 53 of our 74 points. That is a good sign if this can continue," quoted Coach Schmit. The final score was CWC 74-NJC 66.

 

Games two and three took place at the College of Southern Idaho against two of the best teams in the country. Unfortunately, the Rustlers could not back up their performance from Tuesday losing both games by a wide margin. "These teams are legit. They have size, shooting, athleticism, and two great coaches. We definitely did not play our best basketball, but even if we did I'm not sure we could have beaten either of those teams."

 

The Snow game started off well for the Rustlers jumping out to a 13-9 lead before a monster run by Snow pushed the score to 13-25. After that CWC could never recover ultimately losing by a final score of 75-102. Sophomores lead the way for CWC behind Niieihii Blackbear 18, Trey Simms, 17, and Jaren Miller and Jared Lucas scoring 9 points. 

 

"Nothing like playing the 14th ranked team in the country and then facing off against the 7th ranked team in the country on their home court," stated Schmit on the challenge of playing CSI. The game was never contested with CSI jumping to an early lead and never letting up. The final result ended being 60-88 CSI. Julian Roberts and Niieihii Blackbear were the two players who stood out totaling 33 points and 19 rebounds. 

 

CWC is back in action this weekend at the Miles CC Classic taking on Miles CC on Friday at 7PM and United Tribes on Saturday at 12PM.