NORTH PLATTE – The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team outscored North Platte Community College 62-54 but couldn't get the go-ahead shot to fall to the Knights 101-98 in the Region IX South sub-region contest Saturday evening.
The contest was back and forth as there were 12 lead changes and six ties. North Platte had the largest lead at 47-35 just before halftime. The Knights held a 47-36 lead at intermission.
The second half saw WNCC come back from the 11-point deficit to make a game of it. The Cougars trailed late 92-88 and then trailed 99-92 when they mounted a late comeback behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Kenny Strawbridge and Jordan Smith to slice the lead to 99-98. The Knights went up 101-98 when Teddy Allen had a chance to tie the game that was deflected with .02 seconds left.
WNCC shot 48 percent from the field and was 38 percent from beyond the arc (11 of 29). The Knights were 47 percent from the field and 47 percent from beyond the arc (13 of 28).
The difference was free throw shooting where North Platte was 22 of 29 and the Cougars 15 of 20.
WNCC won the battle of the boards 42-37. Allen pulled down 11 rebounds in the contest.
The Cougars put three players in double figures. Allen led the way with 37 points with six 3-pointers. Jarred Rosser tallied 15 points followed by Strawbridge with 13.
WNCC drops to 11-7 on the season and 1-2 in sub-region play. The Cougars will be back in action Tuesday when they host Lamar Community College in a sub-region contest. The women will open the night at 5:30 p.m. followed by the men's contest.
WNCC 36 62 – 98
North Platte 47 54 – 101
WNCC
Jarred Rosser 15, Conner McCracken 3, Tayler Johnson 9, Jordan Smith 5, Kalen Williams 8, Kenny Strawbridge 13, Elie Cadet 8, Teddy Allen 37.
NORTH PLATTE
Courtney Murrell 9, Mert Halavurte 6, DaVonte Tharpe 20, Luke Christen 19, Tim Johnson 20, Arda Akalin 2, Danilo Matovic 10, Slavomyr Marchenko 15.