The North Platte Community College Knights lost their second game of the season falling to the Dodge City Community College Conquistadors 95-92 in a nail-biter at the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium Saturday night.
It was their second loss to the Conquistadors this season. Dodge City defeated the Knights on November 3 at Dodge City 75-61.
The Knights trailed in the early going at 8-3. North Platte put together a 20-6 run to lead 23-14 with just under 14 minutes to go in the half. The Conquistadors were on fire from behind the arc hitting four three-pointers to tie the score at 30.
In the first half there were five ties and eight lead changes with Dodge City leading at the break 47-43.
The Knights came out in the second half on a 5-0 run to take the lead 48-47. The game went back and forth with the Knights leading 72-65 for their biggest lead in the second half. The Conquistadors fought back and tied the score at 86 each.
The Conquistadors led by five with 12 seconds to play. The Knights cut the lead to three on two free throws by Leito Holloway. On the inbound pass the Knights nearly intercepted the pass but an inadvertent buzzer went off to stop play. The possession arrow was in favor of Dodge City and they were able to run out the clock.
The Knights are now 5-2 on the season. They had four players in double figures led by Tim Wagner with 27 points. Next in scoring was Diontae Champion with 17 points. David Ramon ended with 14 points and Holloway finished with 12 points. Ramon led the Knights in rebounding by grabbing seven boards.
The Conquistadors improve to 8-1 on the season. They were led in scoring by Jamil Hood and Jeremy Treaudo with 19 points each. Josh Boutte was one-point behind with 18 points. James Newton scored 16 points and Lorenzo Dillard, who came off the bench, scored 15 points. Boutte had a double-double with 15 rebounds.
The Knights are next in action on November 30 when they travel to Goodland, Kan. to play the Northwest Kansas Technical College Mavericks.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1410 and online at www.northplattepost.com.
Game time is 7 pm central.