Men’s Basketball: SCC Holiday Classic Recap

Game 1: CCC 69  Highland (Kan.) Community College 45

The Raiders posted a 10-point lead over the Scotties at halftime, 31-21. CCC then limited Highland to 24 points in the second half to earn the 24-point win.

CCC's Trey Deveaux posted a double-double with 30 points and 11 rebounds while Jayden Byabato finished with a dozen points.

"We played well defensively for 40 minutes," said CCC head coach John Ritzdorf. "Highland is a very athletic team that is hard to stop on the drive to the basket and on offensive rebounds. Jayden Byabato made some big plays in the first half when things weren't going well on offense and Trey was steady and efficient all game."

Game 2: Allen County (Kan.) Community College 54  CCC 52

The Raiders lost a heart breaker as the Allen County's Nick Whittick scored a floater in the lane with two seconds remaining to lift the Red Devils to victory.

A close game throughout, CCC was down by one with 13 seconds to play when Blake Daberkow was fouled. At the line, Daberkow tied the score at 52 when he sank the first free throw and missed the second. Following Whittick's go-ahead bucket, the Raiders had only two seconds to go the length of the floor and the shot at the buzzer was short.

Deveaux led CCC in scoring with 15 points while Daberkow finished with 12 points.

"I was really proud of how our guys guarded," said Ritzdorf. "Allen County is the most athletic team we've seen to this point, and we did a great job defensively and on the glass.  Offensively, we couldn't really get in any sort of rhythm, which is a credit to Allen County's defense. We had plenty of chances down the stretch but couldn't hit the big shot when we needed it."