NORTH PLATTE – The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team allowed North Platte Community College to go on a 13-0 run to start the second half and the Knights scored 63 points in that half to claim a 98-84 South Sub-region win Saturday afternoon in North Platte.
The loss drops the Cougars to 5-8 in the sub-region while North Platte goes to 7-5. The Cougars have one more regular season game left and that is Saturday when they travel to sub-region-leading Northeastern Junior College. NJC is 10-3 and a win against WNCC would give NJC the sub-region title and the host for the men's regional tournament.
WNCC will more than likely be on the road for a first-round game the weekend of March 6-7 against either the second or third seed from the south sub-region.
Saturday's game was one of two halves for the Cougars. WNCC played well in the first half as they had a 24-17 lead and built it to 29-17 on five straight points from Kellon Harris.
North Platte would come storming back, going on an 11-0 run to trail the Cougar 29-28. WNCC regrouped as they went on a 7-0 run on a Harris dunk and then a Harris 3-pointer to lead 36-28. The Cougars led 42-35 at halftime.
The second half saw North Platte score the first 13 points to grab a 48-42 lead. WNCC finally got on the scoreboard on two Toms Linis free throws and the Cougars' first field goal didn't come until nearly four minutes into the half on a Harris bucket.
WNCC kept scoring with North Platte and trailed 59-50 with 12 minutes to play. North Platte went on a 7-0 run to grab a 66-50, WNCC came back to get the game within seven, 76-69, with just over five minutes to play. That was when the Knights would go on a 13-3 run to lead 89-72.
The Cougars didn't fold as they went on an 8-0 run that included back-to-back 3-pointers from Xavier Kirkpatrick and Isaiah St. Preux to make it 89-80. WNCC trailed 91-82 with 46 seconds to play but the Cougars would miss shots and North Platte made 7-of-8 free throws to go up 98-82 and get the win at 98-84.
WNCC shot 43 percent from the field and made 15 3-pointers in the game led by Harris's four while five other players had two triples. North Platte shot 49 percent and had just eight 3-pointers.
The difference in the game was free throws. WNCC shot just 23 free throws and made 15, while the Knights shot 48 free throws and made 40. North Platte also controlled the boards 41-29.
WNCC had three players in double figures. Harris finished with 22 points, followed by Viktor Lukic-Gavric with 16 and Kirkpatrick with 12.
WNCC 42 42 – 84
North Platte 35 63 – 98
WNCC
Kellon Harris 22, Viktor Lukic-Gavric 16, Xavier Kirkpatrick 12, Isaiah St. Preux 8, Toms Linis 8, Witold Czerenkiewicz 6, Dorin Nguema 5, Melchi Egbeyemi 3, Amare Jackson 3.
NORTH PLATTE
Brady Kennison 25, Winston Allen 16, Josh Osayanrhion 16, Justus Michael 13, Daniel Benjamin 9, Dennis Rocha 8, John Sims 6, Daniel Nwauzu 3, Sedrick Nari 2.