When the Western Nebraska Community College and Eastern Wyoming College men's basketball teams do battle, records mean very little.

                That will be case when the two Highway 26 rivals will do battle Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the EWC Activities Center. The women's squads will battle beforehand at 5:30 p.m.

                The Region IX South showdown feature two teams that need a win after last weekend where both teams fell to Lamar Community College and Northeastern Junior College in Region IX South contests.

                WNCC head coach Russ Beck said his team realizes how big this game in more ways than one. The key is for them to take care of what they need to do.

                It doesn't matter what the records are, either.

                "Whenever this game has been played over the past seven years I have been here, and I am sure it stretches well before that, you can through the records out the window," Beck said. "It will be a dogfight."

                WNCC enters with a 10-7 record but the Cougars are just 2-5 in South play. EWC enters with a 6-12 record and 1-5 in conference. The Lancers have lost eight straight, including last weekend when they fell to Lamar 85-82 and then NJC 76-64.

                WNCC lost a couple heart-breakers over the weekend, falling to Northeastern Junior College 90-89 after enjoying an eight-point lead with two minutes to play. WNCC then fell 95-90 to Lamar after holding another late lead.

                Beck said they just have to play for a full 40 minutes.

                "We have been scoring enough points; we just got to make some smarter plays down the stretch," Beck said. "When we get a lead, we need to keep the other team at bay. We just need to be really sold defensively and not let certain players get on a roll. It just comes down to playing a 40 minute game. We have played some great stretches of minutes throughout almost every game we played and we are just looking for this team to compete at a high level for 40 minutes."

                The WNCC and EWC will be one of those contests that whoever plays together the longest will win. In the last five years, WNCC holds an 8-2 record. But the games at EWC have not been easy. IN 2012-13, EWC won 75-52 at Torrington. The other four games were also close with WNCC winning by a combined 13 points.

                Last year, WNCC won 84-81 and the year before 89-81. In 2011-12, WNCC earned an 80-77 win and in 2010-11, it was just a two-point win for the Cougars, 78-76.

                Beck knows that his team has to be ready.

                "I know they are a couple players down but that has proven to not mean much. Lamar was in the same situation. NJC was in the same situation," he said. "EWC is pretty disciplined. They are scrappy. They are really going to compete. They have some high character kids that will get on the floor for the loose balls, box out and do all the fundamental things in a game. You have to win enough of those battles by doing the same thing. They might not be the deepest team right know or the athletic team, but at the same time they are a good team. They really compete well. They have shown they can win big games. They beat Laramie County in their first sub-region game of the year. This is definitely that if we don't handle our business they will give us some problems."

                The Lancers are led by Gering High graduate Grant Olsson, who is averaging 15.1 points a game. Olsson is also pulling down 5.3 rebounds a game and has connected on 47 percent of his 3-point shots.

                Right behind Olsson is Torrence Littles at 12.2 points a game and Dashawn Benson at 11.1. Peter Skoknic is near double digits at 9.3 points.

                WNCC matches up well with the Lancers with three players in double figures. Phil Fayne leads the way at 11.9 points followed by Tyrell Williams at 11.7 points. Andrew Ramirez is next at 10 points. Ramirez, however, is sidelined after knee surgery for four to five weeks.

                Thursday's contest will be one that Beck realizes that his team will get EWC's best game.

                "We are Western Nebraska and we are going to get everybody's best game. That is something that we need to expect," he said. "We are like the Yankees; you either love us or hate us. What we can expect from EWC is their best game of the year and if we try to expect anything less than we will end up disappointed. They are going to come and really compete."

                After Thursday, WNCC will have two non-South conference contests when they travel to Dawson Community College on Saturday before hosting Casper College on Monday.