The North Platte Community College Knights basketball team fell short against the Dodge City Community College Conquistadors 80-79 at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium on Saturday night.

Dodge City avenged a loss 70-68 on their home court to the Knights on November 18.  In that game Marco Pascolo hit a three pointer with 1.4 seconds to win it for the Knights.

In the first half Saturday the Conquistadors jumped out to a 22-16 lead. The Knights then went on a 19-6 run to take their largest lead of the first half 35-28.  The Knights held a 38-35 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the Knights led by 6 with just under 14 minutes to play 52-46.  The Conquistadors went on a 20-5 run to take a nine-point lead 66-57.

The Knights were down by four late, 80-76.  Cameron Williams attempted a three pointer with time running out.  He was fouled in the act of shooting and went to the line for three shots.  Williams made all three shots to pull the Knights within one.

Williams led all scorers with a career high 46 points.  Williams’ 46 points were four points shy of the school scoring record set by David Lafferty in 1970 against Eastern Wyoming College.

Williams has scored more than 30 points in his last four games, scoring a total of 130 points in the four games moving him into 36th place on the Knights’ all-time scoring list with 739 points.

CJ Polk was the only other Knight in double figures.  Polk finished with 11 points. Marco Pascolo pulled down 11 rebounds, 9 on the defensive side.

The Conquistadors were balanced in their scoring with 5 of the 9 that played scoring in double figures. James Newton led the Conquistadors with 17 points, followed by Ameer Jackson with 16 points.  Payton Pervier scored 15, George Brock scored 13, and EJ Eaves finished with 10 points.

The Knights fall to 10-3 on the season.  Dodge City improves to 10-4.

The Knights are off until after the semester break.  They return to action on January 6 when they travel to Goodland, Kansas to play Northwest Kansas Technical College. The game may be heard on ESPN Radio 1410 or www.northplattepost.com. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. CST.

North Platte returns home to play Western Nebraska Community College on January 9 in a National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX south sub-region game.  The game may be seen on www.coachesaid.com .  Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. CST.