DMACC holds on for 85-82 victory over T-Birds

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Knocking down all four of its free throw attempts in the final minute, Des Moines Area Community College was able to hold off the Cloud County Thunderbirds 85-82 in the Hampton Inn Reiver Classic on Saturday afternoon.
Cloud County, trailing 81-78 got a layup by freshman guard Nysir Scott with 48 seconds remaining in the game to close the gap to 81-80.
Following a pair of free throws by DMACC, sophomore Alvin Thompson scored for the T-Birds to again make it a one-point game, 83-82, with 20 seconds on the clock.
The Bears connected on two more free throws to push the lead to 85-82.
Cloud County was unable to come up with a tying basket.
“Des Moines had an excellent game plan. I thought we were ready for it,” Cloud County coach Jordan Altman said, “They really slowed us down, didn't send anyone to the offensive glass, and instead got back to limit our transition and forced us to shoot it in the half-court. Unfortunately we had a tough night at didn't hit many perimeter shots.”
Cloud County made 22 of 36 two-point field goal attempts for 61 percent and 23 of 27 free throws for 85 percent, but connected on just 5 of 29 three-point tires for 17 percent.
The loss was the first of the season for the T-Birds, who are now 4-1.
DMACC improved to 4-1 on the season after an 88-81 loss to host Iowa Western Community College in the first round of the classic on Friday.
Iowa Western cruised past Dakota College at Bottineau 107-72 on Saturday.
Cloud County downed Dakota College 125-68 on Friday.
The T-Birds got out to a seven points lead on DMACC in the first half.
DMACC battled back to take a 40-38 halftime lead.
The game was close throughout the second half, and the Bears were able to hold on for the win.
Thompson led Cloud County with a career high 24 points. He was 8 of 13 from the field and eight of nine from the free throw line, and also pulled down six rebounds.
“Alvin really did a nice job slicing up the defense and finding gaps in the zone,” Altman said, “We just had too many guys settle for the outside shot, but we're going to have to figure out how to get some of these outside shots to fall.”
Freshman Iyen Enaruna came off the bench to score 13 points for the T-Birds.
Ty Duin, a freshman guard, finished with 10 points and four steals.
Freshman Edoardo Del Cadia scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Three DMACC players combined for 69 points in the game.
Tray Buchanan led the way for the Bears with 25 points.
DeShawn Davidson scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
DeVonta Price added 21 points and nine rebounds.
The Bears shot 46 percent (24 of 52) from the floor and 77 percent (27 of 35) from the line
Cloud County will have a week off before playing in the McCook (Neb.) Classic.
The T-Birds take on host McCook Community College at 6 p.m. Friday and North Platte Community College at 4 p.m. Saturday.
“It's always interesting to see how a team responds after facing a little adversity,” Altman said, “We're in a much different spot than last year. I thought, other than hitting shots, we did everything we could and DMACC played a great game. Hopefully we respond and head out to McCook with a little more energy and confidence to compete against teams at our level.”