by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information
Southeast Nebraska came into the Kansas City Kansas Community College Field House with the physique of an NBA team and made the most of it Wednesday night..
Rotating a quartet of front-liners ranging in height from 6-8 to 6-11, the Storm effectively shut down KCKCC’s inside game in an 89-82 win that wasn’t decided until the final two minutes.
The Blue Devils led 76-75 with 2:40 remaining but two layups by Tyson Lewis put Southeast ahead to stay 79-76 and the Storm protected the lead by making 10 free throws in the final two minutes, The loss dropped KCKCC to 2-4 heading into a 6 p.m. road game at John Wood University Friday.
KCKCC led Southeast by as many as 13 points midway through the first half only to have the Storm close the gap to 38-36 at halftime and set up a furious see-saw second half that had 10 ties and 11 lead changes.
In the end, it was the Storm’s size and bulk that made the difference. Not only did Southeast outscore the Blue Devils 60-38 “in the paint,” the Storm limited Blue Devils front line to 19 points on 8-of-24 shooting. Meanwhile, Southeast’s four big men combined for 33 points by knocking down 14 of 22 field goal attempts.
The Storm also shot exceptionally well the second half, 20-of-30 field goal attempts for 66.7 percent while the Blue Devils got off 10 more shots, making 17 for 42.5 percent. Southeast finished at 57.4 percent for the game to .405 for KCKCC.
Guards provided most of the Blue Devils’ offense led by sophomores Deron McDaniel and DeAngelo Bell.
McDaniel led all scorers with 27 points, 21 of them coming on 7-of-11 3-pointers, while Bell had three treys in a 15-point effort.
Trey Bates added 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and shared the lead in assists with Zach Nelson, who also had six points and four steals. Caleb Jones scored nine points and he and Robert Rhodes shared rebounding honors with eight each.
Lewis led Southeast with 23 points, 17 in the second half, while 6-8 Much Biel dominated inside with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
