Men’s Basketball: Raiders Overpower Panthers

It was a tale of two halves as the Raiders defeated York College JV, 93-74, on Wednesday night at the Raider Fieldhouse.

The Raiders went scoreless for a five-minute stretch of the first half and the Panthers took advantage and built a 14-5 lead. CCC pulled to within two a few times in the first half, but never took the lead. York held a 42-37 lead at halftime.

Central came to life after the break with a 13-2 run over a three-minute span to take a 50-44 edge. With the score tied at 52 at the 14:13 mark, the Raiders put the game out of reach by outscoring the Panthers, 34-10, to go up 86-62 with 4:13 remaining.

"We were very sluggish and sloppy in the first half, but I'm happy with how we responded in the second half," said CCC head coach John Ritzdorf. "We need to play much better to start the game if we want to beat some of the tough teams we have coming up on our schedule."

Kevin Cook logged a double double with 23 points and 19 rebounds. Gavin Lipovsky scored 14 points while Trey Deveaux tallied 11 points. Defensively, the Raiders outrebounded the Panthers, 57-33.

"Kevin Cook had a great game and played very strong down low," said Ritzdorf. "Gavin Lipovsky gave us a huge spark off the bench."

The win keeps CCC's record perfect at 4-0 heading into Tuesday's game at Iowa Western Community College. Game time is set for 6 p.m. in Council Bluffs.