Wake Tech Community College entered on a three-game losing streak to visit the then-undefeated Lenoir Community College Lancers Wednesday.
The Eagles left with a 89-83 victory over LCC.
As the game progressed, the two teams were evenly matched as they scored basket after basket. About halfway through the first half, the Lancers’ play looked untidy in their passing and ball handling — and Wake Tech took advantage. It resulted in a Wake run before the half, as the Eagles led, 43-40.
A major asset to Wake Tech’s game was their rebounding, as Wake forward Josh Mellette nearly single-handedly out-rebounded the Lancers in the first half. He finished with a game-high 15 boards, getting nine of those in first part of the game.
When the second half began, WT didn’t let down with their active hands on the defensive end and rolled over the previously-undefeated Lancers to improve to a 6-3 record.
“It just proves that we’re working hard,” WT coach Frank Fields said of the win. “We’ve been sharpening the little things trying to get a little bit better one game at a time, and it finally paid off for us tonight.”
LCC coach Bobby Dawson said the Lancers will rebound from the loss by working on their mistakes.
“I think one of the main things is we’ve got to do a better job of rebounding and sharing the ball,” he said. “Hopefully we can bounce back from this because of the fact that it’s our first loss, and a bitter one at that.”
Jessika Morgan contributed to this report.