In a battle of two unbeaten teams, North Platte Community College traveled to Dodge City, Kansas and came away with a 70-68 win over the Conquistadors of Dodge City Community College on a last second shot by sophomore Marco Pascolo. The Knights remain unbeaten at 5-0. Dodge City fell to 5-1.
Knights head coach Kevin O’Connor said that Dodge City is a talented and athletic team.
“We played decent,” O’Connor said. “Except for the runs at the beginning of each half.”
The Conquistadors jumped out to a 10-0 lead during the first two and a half minutes of the game. The Knights went on an 18-7 run to take their first lead of 18-17 with 11 minutes to go in the first half.
The game was tied at 23 when Dodge City went on a 9-0 run to lead 32-23. They held on to lead at halftime 41-36.
At the beginning of the second half, the Conquistadors went on a 15-6 run and held their biggest lead of the game 56-42 with just under 13 minutes to play in the game.
The Knights started battling back by not turning the ball over and the offense of sophomores Cameron Williams and Marco Pascolo,
The Knights took the lead 59-56 with 6 minutes to go on a three-pointer by Pascolo.
Dodge City regained the lead. Freshman Matt Thomas hit a three-pointer with 2 minutes to play to put the Knights within two points of the lead 66-64. On the next possession, the Knights had a good defensive stand causing Dodge City’s EJ Eaves to miss a layup and the Knights came down the court and took the lead on a three pointer by Pascolo, 67-66.
The Conquistadors were at the free throw line with 3.8 seconds to play. Eaves hit both free throws to put Dodge City out in front 68-67. The Knights had 3.8 seconds to go the length of the court and with 1.4 seconds Pascolo hit the game winning shot.
Pascolo led the Knights in scoring with 18 points. He was perfect from the field shooting 7 of 7 and 4 of 4 behind the three point line. Cameron Williams and Tyree Peter finished with 15 and 12 points respectively. Pascolo also pulled down 11 rebounds.
The Conquistadors were led by Eaves, who had a game high 19 points. The only other player to score in double figures for Dodge City was Ameer Jackson, who finished with 16 points.
The Knights return home this weekend to open up Region IX play. Otero comes to town on Friday with a 7:30 tip-off. On Saturday, Trinidad State is in town. Tip-off for the Trinidad game is 2:00.
Both games can be heard on ESPN 1410 radio or online at www.northplattepost.com. It may also be viewed at http://www.coachesaid.com.