North Platte – The No. 18 North Platte Community College men’s basketball team (25-4, 12-4 South Sub-Region, 5-1 NCCAC) defeated the Southeast Community College Storm (19-11, 0-6 NCCAC) by a score of 106-63 to earn the team’s second straight undefeated season at home. The Knights’ sophomores are the first class to ever not lose a home game during their career. The victory also sews up the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference (NCCAC) championship for the Knights.

“This is a special group of sophomores,” said head coach Kevin O’Connor. “We tell our kids to do things the right way and the wins and losses will take care of themselves and this group definitely did that.”

The Knights won the NCCAC with a 5-1 record. McCook Community College finished in second place with a 4-2 record with Central Community College in third place with a 3-3 record and Southeast is fourth with a 0-6 record.

The Knights got off to fast start in the first half and never looked back en route to the 43 point victory. The Knights used a 25-3 run to turn a 17-12 lead into a 56-17 lead with two minutes to play in the first half. Cameron Williams scored 26 first half points on six of seven shooting from behind the 3-point line. Ethan Montalvo was also in double-figures with 10 points.

In the second half, it was more of the same as the Knights continued to fire on all cylinders and extended their lead. The Knights broke the century mark on a steal and lay-up from sophomore Marcus Linson.

Williams finished with a career-high 33 points and also had 3 assists. Montalvo finished with 19 points and Aireon Porter was also in double-figures with 10 points. Linson finished with a career-high seven points.

John Swift and Logan Dorn each scored 13 points to lead the Storm.

The Knights will return to action on March 1 when they compete in the Region IX Tournament. The bracket for the tournament will be released early next week.