T-Birds defeat Bulldogs 79-44 in season opener

Overcoming some early first game jitters, the Cloud County Community College Thunderbirds pulled away to a 79-44 victory over the McPherson College junior varsity in their season opener Wednesday night in Bryant Gymnasium.
Cloud County, working several newcomers into the rotation, led McPherson by just two points 14 minutes into the game.
The T-Birds used a 16-5 run to go up 38-25 at halftime.
Outscoring the Bulldogs 9-3 in the opening 4:45 of the second half, Cloud County pushed its lead to 19 points, 47-28.
The T-Birds went on to lead by as many as 36 points on its way to the win.
"I think we had to get our jitters out. I think that happens our first game," Cloud County coach Devin Kastrup said. "We have got to knock the rust off. When it counts you have to know what is a good shot and a bad shot. I think a lot of our guys, seemingly in our first couple of games, play with some hesitation. So it is just working through that."
McPherson (1-1) led just once in the game at 2-1.
The Bulldogs kept the game close in the early going, trailing just 18-15.
A steal and a layup by Cheikh Sow and a basket by Ja'Ron Briggs Jr. put Cloud County up 22-15.
McPherson got a three-point basket by Trey Hill and a jumper by Faheem Bagheeza to close the gap to 22-20 with 6:29 to play in the first half.
Two free throws by Briggs Jr. started an 8-0 spurt that gave Cloud County a 30-20 advantage.
Briggs Jr., one of four returning sophomores for the T-Birds, finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds. five assists and four steals. He was six of six from the field and four of six from the free throw line.
"He (Briggs) is a jack of all trades. He leads us physically, and was kind of all over the place," Kastrup said. "He knew when to set things and when to be aggressive. I thought Ja'Ron had a really good game. I was very happy with his performance."
Damareon Williams made two free throws for McPherson.
Cloud County outscored the Bulldogs 8-3 over the final 1:16 of the first half, and led 38-25.
Briggs Jr. scored the first two points of the second half.
McPherson answered with a three-point shot by Williams that cut the deficit to 12 points, 40-28.
Scoring eight straight points, six by Briggs Jr., the T-Birds opened up a 47-28 advantage.
The Bulldogs would get as close as 17 points.
An 11-5 spurt gave Cloud County its largest lead at 61-35.
Freshman Abdoulaye Fall led Cloud County in scoring with 21 points. He hit 8 of 11 field goal attempts and all four of his free throws.
Sow, another of the returning sophomores, added nine points and six rebounds.
The T-Birds were 30 of 68 from the floor for 44 percent and 15 of 18 from the free throw line for 83 percent. They made 4 of 23 three-point attempts for 17 percent.
"We got a lot of great looks that looked really good, and I am confident those will go in. If we make three more threes then we win by 40-plus and I feel really, really good," Kastrup said.
Williams and Hill scored nine points each for McPherson.
Cloud County travels to Sedalia, Mo., to play in the McDonald's Classic, hosted by State Fair Community College, this weekend.
The T-Birds play Neosho County Community College at 3:30 p.m. Friday and State Fair at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
"Neosho is very athletic. They definitely play like a Jayhawk (Conference) team," Kastrup said. "State Fair, we will see a lot of pressing. They have some length and athleticism."