February 2015 – Page 37 – North Platte Post Archive

Purdue Holds Off Nebraska 66-54

Posted on February 15, 2015

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Vince Edwards scored 15 points and Kendall Stephens added 12 on Sunday, leading Purdue to a 66-54 Big Ten Conference victory against Nebraska in Mackey Arena.

Purdue (17-9, 9-4) pulled back into a second-place tie with 19th-ranked Maryland, each three games in the loss column behind league-leading Wisconsin. The Boilermakers beat Nebraska (13-12, 5-8) for fifth consecutive time in West Lafayette.

Purdue used a 10-2 run that began with 14:54 remaining to take a 48-32 lead with 12:19 to go. That burst included a three-point play from Edwards and a 3-pointer from Stephens.

Purdue also improved to 6-1 in Big Ten home games, losing only to Maryland on Jan. 10. The Boilermakers have conference home games remaining with Rutgers and Illinois and must travel to Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan State.

Shavon Shields led the Cornhuskers with 19, and Terran Petteway added 13.

NPCC Lady Knights Basketball Defeats Doane College JV

Posted on February 15, 2015February 15, 2015

The North Platte Community College Lady Knights defeated the Doane College Junior Varsity Lady Tigers Sunday afternoon 65-50. The game was a make-up game that was originally scheduled for Feb. 1.

The Lady Knights led at halftime 28-26 but outscored the Lady Tigers in the second half 37-24.

The Lady Knights were led in scoring by Aliyah Brown who scored a career-high 24 points. The only other Lady Knight to score in double figures was April Stull with 13 points.

The Lady Tigers were led in scoring by Claire Phillips with 14 points and Karolyn Cahill with 13 points.

Lady Knight head coach Richard Thurin said: “Overall we played a good game. We had a lot of help off the bench. Clara Vinton played well with eight points. Doane pulled four players off of the varsity to play against us.”

Thurin also noted the play of Brown and her 24 points.

The Lady Knights who are now 13-11 on the season will be in action on Friday, February 20 against Region IX Division II opponent Southeast Community College. Southeast is currently leading Division II in Region IX with a 3-0 record. The Lady Knights are 2-1. The Lady Knights need to win by 15 to claim the regular season Region IX championship and gain a bye in the Region IX Division II Tournament. The game will be live streamed on www.coachesaid.com. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. CST.

The game is designated as “Girl Scout Night” and “Elementary Night.”

‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Whips Up Stunning $81.7 Million

Posted on February 15, 2015

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Fifty Shades of Grey” raked in the Valentine’s Day dollars, earning an estimated $81.7 million from 3,646 theaters in its first three days, distributor Universal Studios said on Sunday. The chart-topping erotic drama could be on track to earn over $90 million during the four-day holiday weekend.

This total includes the $8.6 million from showings late Thursday night.

Internationally, the R-rated adaptation of E L James’ book is projected to earn a massive $158.3 million from 58 territories.

Director Matthew Vaughn’s “Kingsman: The Secret Service” also exceeded expectations with an estimated $35.6 million across the three-day for a second place debut, according to box office tracker Rentrak.

Animated children’s film “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” came in third with $30.5 million

Fremont Police Call Death Suspicious After Finding Body

Posted on February 15, 2015February 15, 2015

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — Fremont police are investigating a man’s death after his body was found lying in a street Sunday morning.

Police Chief Jeff Elliott says the body was found around 7:30 a.m. Sunday near 8th and Broad streets.

Elliott says the circumstances of the death are suspicious, but he didn’t release many details of the 52-year-old man’s death.

The man’s identity also wasn’t released immediately because his family had not been notified.

An autopsy is planned for Monday.

New 531 Area Code May Soon Be Used in Eastern Nebraska

Posted on February 15, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The first 531 phone numbers in Nebraska’s new area code will soon be activated.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports (https://bit.ly/1JivDxZ) the small towns of Atkinson and Oakland are where the new area code will get its start.

State regulators sent the first 531 numbers to CenturyLink, and the company plans to use them in the two small towns.

The new 531 area code was overlaid on top of the 402 area, so 402 customers won’t be forced to switch phone numbers. The new area code was needed because phone companies were running out of numbers in the existing 402 area code.

All calls in the area will require the area code plus the seven-digit telephone number.

South Sioux City Still Waiting on Reimbursements from 2011 Flooding

Posted on February 15, 2015

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (AP) — South Sioux City is still waiting for nearly $1.4 million in reimbursement from state and federal agencies almost four years after extensive flooding along the Missouri River.

City officials are still working to finish up the last paperwork needed to obtain reimbursement for flood-related expenses. Then an inspector from the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency will have to check out the work.

City Treasurer Nanci Walsh says she didn’t think it would take this long to secure reimbursement, but South Sioux City didn’t finish its last project until December 2013.

The city has received $3.4 million from the federal government, but nothing from Nebraska. It expects to receive $678,974 from FEMA and $676,148 from NEMA.

Huskers Drop Series Finale, 3-0

Posted on February 15, 2015

Las Vegas, Nev. – After posting a 2-0 shutout win on Friday night, the Nebraska baseball team dropped the final two games of its series with UNLV, including a 3-0 loss in the finale on Sunday. Nebraska had the tying or go-ahead run at the plate in both the eighth and ninth innings, but couldn’t get the hit it needed.

Nebraska had the bases loaded with two outs in the ninth, but Brayden Torres closed out the win when he got freshman Scott Schreiber to fly out.

D.J. Myers was stellar in his UNLV debut, as the junior college transfer gave up just three hits and one walk over 7.2 innings, while striking out five. A pair of Rebel relievers finished out the shutout, with Torres picking up the save.

For the Huskers, sophomore Max Knutson struggled in his first career start, lasting just 2.0 innings. Three NU relievers stepped up and kept Nebraska in the game by giving up only one run over 6.0 innings of work, but the Husker offense was never able to find a rhythm.

After Knutson retired the Rebels in order to start the game, he issues a leadoff walk in the second and then gave up a double to Edgar Montes. Nick Rodriguez did his job with an RBI groundout that gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead. Payton Squier then lifted a shallow fly ball into left field and Christian Cox made a spectacular diving catch for the out, but Montes was able to tag up and race home to give UNLV a 2-0 lead.

Knutson got into trouble again in the third when he issued back-to-back walks to start the inning, which forced Head Coach Darin Erstad to turn the ball over to the bullpen. Junior Jeff Chesnut stepped into a pressure situation and calmed the waters for the Huskers. Chesnut kept the Rebels from adding to their lead with three straight outs, including a great play from Blake Headley on a groundball where the NU third baseman cut Joey Swanner down at the plate.

Nebraska didn’t create its first scoring opportunity until the fourth when Ryan Boldt broke up Myers no hitter with a one-out single to center field. Boldt was then in scoring position following a groundout, but was stranded there when Myers struck out Tanner Lubach.

The Rebels caught a break in the seventh when Rodriguez lifted a low line drive to center field that looked to be caught by Boldt, but he lost the ball in the sun, resulting in a triple. Squier followed with an RBI double that pushed UNLV’s lead to 3-0.

The Huskers had the tying run at the plate in Austin Darby in the eighth following a pair of two-out walks, but Hartman shutdown the situation with strikeout looking.

Blake Headley got a rally going with a two-out single in the ninth that was followed by consecutive walks to load the bases. Torres came in and got the final out to end the game.

The Huskers will head back to Lincoln for a few days before returning to the Southwest on Wednesday with a trip to Peoria, Ariz. The Huskers open a four-game series against BYU on Thursday at the Peoria Sports Complex, the Spring Training home of the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners.

The Huskers and Cougars open the series on Thursday at 2:05 p.m. (CT), then play a doubleheader that starts at 1:05 p.m. on Friday before wrapping up the series on Saturday at 1:05 p.m.

No. 22 Nebraska Women End Skid, 70-63 over Wisconsin

Posted on February 15, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Natalie Romeo scored a career-high 21 points and Tear’a Laudermill added 20 and No. 22 Nebraska ended a three-game losing streak with a 70-63 win over Wisconsin on Sunday.

All three of the losses came against ranked teams and after the Cornhuskers (18-7, 8-6 Big Ten) lost standout guard Rachel Theriot to an ankle injury suffered in practice.

Romeo, a freshman, making her fifth start and third straight in Theriot’s absence, hit 7 of 11 shots with three 3s.

Wisconsin (8-16, 4-10), which has lost seven of eight, got 16 points from Nichole Bauman and 15 from Jacki Gulczynski.

Nebraska led by 13 midway through the first half but the Badgers rallied to trail 33-32 at the break.

Wisconsin took an early lead in the second half but a 13-0, with Laudermill and Romeo combining for 11, put the Huskers back in control, 50-39 with 12:52 to play.

NPCC Knights Softball Splits Doubleheader with Murray State College

Posted on February 15, 2015

The North Platte Community College Knights Softball Team spit a doubleheader with the Murray State College Lady Aggies on Saturday losing the first game 6-4 and winning the second game in convincing fashion 14-0 in five innings. The win was the Knights first win of the season and puts the season record at one win and seven losses.

In game one, the Knights jumped out to an early two to nothing lead on runs by Caroline Motis and Shannon Lieber. In the second inning, the Knights added one more run when Sara Villalobos doubled to left field driving in Motis for her second run scored for the game.

The Lady Aggies scored one run in each of their half of the third and fourth inning with runs by Haley Dixson and Kenzi Clapp. The Lady Aggies took the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Rachel Noble hit a two-run home run scoring Aubrey Wooden.

The Knights tied it up in the sixth at four when Motis scored her third run of the game.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the seventh when Bryanne Knox singled to left field and then scored on Wooden’s walk-off home run.

The Knights were led offensively by Caroline Motis, who reached base three times and scored three runs. Baileigh Oleson pitched six innings, allowed four earned runs on eight hits, two home runs and striking out six to take the loss.

Murray State were led by Wooden, who had three hits, including the game winning home run. Jordan Dabney was the starting pitcher for the Lady Aggies. Dabney pitched 5.2 innings allowing six hits and two earned runs. Dabney struck out six. Kaitie Miller pitched 1.1 innings of relief to get the win.

The second game was all Knights. Brittney Odum hit a three-run home run in the first inning scoring Caroline Motis and Audrie Conner.

The big inning came in the fourth when the Knights scored eight runs. Knights scored on a two-run single by Shelby Clark, a two-run double by Tara Crouch, a two-run single by Jessica Jarvis, an RBI single by Caroline Motis, and an RBI single by Shannon Lieber.

The Aggies only managed to get one hit off of Knights starter Shannon Lieber. Lieber pitched five innings and struck out four.

Andrea Quiroga, Jarvis and Motis each had two hits for the Knights. Jarvis had four runs batted in. Motis also had a stolen base.

The Knights are in action next when they travel to Borger, TX to participate in the Frank Phillips Tournament on Feb. 20 – 21.

UNK Reverses Sidewalk Chalk Policy

Posted on February 15, 2015

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska at Kearney has dropped its policy limiting chalk messages and drawings on its sidewalks after students and faculty criticized it as restricting free speech.

In November, the university’s Office of Business and Finance implemented the policy allowing student organizations to use chalk on sidewalks only on Mondays and Tuesdays to advertise events. It also prohibited them from sharing social or political messages using sidewalk chalk and mandated a $50 “cleaning” fee on the faculty adviser of any student organization that violated the policy.

The policy was implemented shortly after political science and anti-abortion groups held events and chalked messages on school sidewalks.

UNK spokeswoman Kelly Bartling says the UNK Chancellor’s Office, in collaboration with senior administrators, pulled the policy.