ROCK SPRINGS – A strong start has the Western Wyoming men’s basketball team in a good position as they prepare for the important part of the season.

The Mustangs have already logged 10 wins as they entered the break including a 5-0 record at home in the early going. Western will return to the court with three home games including its conference opener. They will have one warm-up game against Impact Academy on Jan. 6 before opening conference play Jan. 12 against Miles Community College.

Last Time Out

Before the break, the Mustangs split two on the road starting with a win over Eastern Wyoming. It was the second Mustang win over Eastern as they took the first at the Western Wyoming Classic

In the second matchup, the Mustangs jumped out early and never looked back. After a strong first half, Western led, 42-26. Although Eastern played better in the second, the large deficit was too much to overcome as the Mustangs took the 88-69 win.

The next night, Western took on Northeastern in Colorado. A strong first half by Tyrell Isaacs had the Mustangs up at the break, 30-26. Isaacs scored 10 in the first while Callum Lawson finished with nine.

The teams went back-and-forth in the second half and were tied with under a minute to go. An offensive putback with 30 seconds was the difference as Northeastern escaped with the 70-68 win. David Thornton had a big second half to lead a balanced scoring attack. Thornton finished with 16 while Lawson added 15 and Isaacs finished with 14. Joshua Fearing finishing with 13 on the night.

Season Rankings

The Mustangs are currently third in the division in shooting hitting 48.5 percent of their shots. Overall, they are eight in scoring averaging just under 74 per game.

A big key to the early success for WWCC has been turnovers. The Mustangs have been taking care of the ball as they lead the division in turnovers averaging only 11 per contest. Casper College is next with 13 per game.

Individually, WWCC is led by Isaacs who is averaging 14.8 points and four assists per game. Lawson is right behind putting in 13.7 per contest. Lawson is also among the best rebounders in the North Division. His 8.8 points per game is fourth in the North.

Standings

Gillette – 13-1

Sheridan 13-2

Northwest – 11-4

Casper – 10-4

Western Wyoming –  10-5

Central Wyoming – 7-5

Miles – 7-7

Little Big Horn – 1-9