TORRINGTON – Both Eastern Wyoming College basketball teams scored come-from-behind wins Wednesday evening over Western Wyoming Community College in the Region IX North Division opener.
In the women’s game, the Lady Lancers overcame a 17-9 second-quarter deficit to knock off the Lady Mustangs, 57-44.
After scoring only 15 points in the first half, the Lady Lancers offense started clicking in the third quarter, and with 4:25 left in the frame, freshman Maria Neira drained one of her three 3-pointers to tie the game at 28.
However, it wasn’t until three minutes later when freshman Libbie Schaefer hit a pair of free throws that EWC took its first lead since the first quarter.
Eastern Wyoming never trailed again for the remainder of the game. The lead change came in the midst of a 10-0 to end the third by the Lady Lancers.
EWC kept the momentum in its favor heading to the final quarter, and by the midway point in the fourth, the Lady Lancer lead reached double-digits at 47-37.
Neither team shot well. The Lady Lancers shot 30.9%, while WWCC shot 31.2%. The teams also combined for 54 turnovers.
Sophomore Ana Soler led EWC with 14 points, while Neira added 13. Sophomore Ana Gascon grabbed a team-high 18 rebounds.
In the men’s game, the Lancers fell behind 18-4 in the first six minutes of the game, forcing EWC coach Tom Andersen to use two timeouts during that time frame. In the end, Eastern Wyoming picked up a 70-67 overtime victory.
But over the final seven and a half minutes of the half, the Lancers used a 12-2 run to cut the Western Wyoming lead.
However it wasn’t until 11:50 left to play when the Mustangs were called for a goal tending, handing the Lancers a 41-40 lead.
EWC held the lead for 10 minutes until WWCC regained the lead, and over the final minute and a half of regulation, the teams traded the lead twice and it was sophomore Quincy Taylor who tied the game at 59 with a pair of free throws.
Over the final 30 seconds, neither team was able to break the tie, forcing an extra five minutes.
In the extra period, the Mustangs scored first, but buckets by freshman Tom Mark and sophomore Nikolas Gustavson put the Lancers in front for good.
With EWC leading 70-67 with the final seconds on the clock, Western Wyoming’s attempt to extend the game to a second overtime hit the back of the rim, securing the victory for the Lancers.
Mark led the Lancers with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while sophomores Kayden Toldson and Marco Krtinic added 15 points each.
The Lancers travel to Powell to face Northwest College on Saturday, Jan. 22. The women tip off at 2 p.m., with the men to follow at 4 p.m.
