Shawn Neary looked like a guy that couldn't remember the numbers to his gym locker in Wednesday night's 80-66 Region IX victory over No. 11 Western Wyoming Community College.
The Gillette College men's basketball coach just kept throwing combination after combination at it until it finally popped open.
James Hunter had five offensive rebounds in the final 10 minutes to finish with a double-double for the Pronghorns. George Edwards had a double-double for the second straight Region IX game, finishing with 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Gillette College (12-4, 3-0 in Region IX) handed the Mustangs (14-2, 3-1 in Region IX) just their second loss of the season and first loss in the region.
"I thought we had a good rotation. Our guys seemed fresh for the most part," Neary said. "George (Edwards) was the only guy with 30 minutes. I like that balance. Guys played 25 (minutes), 30, 22, 22. We kept them fresh and out of foul trouble."
Neary started an athletic lineup with Edwards and Kashaune McKinney as forwards and Kalen Foreman at center for the first time all season. He went big with Foreman, a 6-foot-9 sophomore from Southfield, Mich., and Hunter, who's 6-10.
He ran a 3-2 zone with Matt Strickland, Reece Maxwell and Lucas Reller, a 6-1 freshman from Deadwood, S.D., up top. He switched it up by using Maxwell at the point of attack on the zone defense with Asante Smiter and Reller on the wings. He brought in the athleticism of Tony Lowry Jr., and mixed it with the big lineup. At one point, he even went with a two-fifth's of an Australian lineup with Maxwell and Hunter on the floor.
In the end, it was a combination of it all.
McKinney led all scorers with 19 points in 25 minutes. Hunter finished with nine of his 10 rebounds coming on the offensive glass, to go along with 17 points. Edwards, who's ninth in the region in scoring, had 17 points in his first start. He also had eight rebounds on the defensive end.
Reller tied the game at 52-52 with a 3-pointer from the right wing with 10:03 remaining. From that point on, Hunter controlled the paint with five offensive rebounds for putbacks.
"I got position in the paint. All I had to do was go get it and put it in," Hunter said. "Coach told us we had to crash the offensive boards and I guess we listened. It was a good idea."
Most every combination Neary went with worked. The starters contributed 51 points and hauled in 26 rebounds. The bench added its fair share with 29 points and 17 rebounds.
The Pronghorns also effectively switched up defenses, probably throwing in a little more zone than normal to cover Western Wyoming's perimeter shooters.
D.J. Stennis led the Mustangs with 15 points and B.J. Kline, a 6-2, freshman from Waterbury, Conn., knocked down 3-of-8 from 3-point range for 11.
But the Pronghorns effectively shut down a team that came in with a 14-1 record.

"Coach said we needed to be more physical in the second half and I thought we did a good job taking away their shooters," said Edwards, who's averaging 17.2 points a game. "It was good to start, but I'm comfortable coming off the bench. I just want to come in and do what I have to do and contribute. I thought we all did tonight."
McKinney went coast-to-coast for the runner through the lane to give Gillette a 48-38 lead with 14:45 left. Western Wyoming used a 9-0 run to cut it to 49-48. Eventually, Kline drained one from downtown on the left wing to tie it at 52-52.
The Pronghorns play their next two games on the road at Little Big Horn Community College in Crow Agency, Mont., Saturday and Central Wyoming College in Riverton on Jan. 18, before returning home for a key matchup against Casper College on Jan. 21.