North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights basketball team defeated the Trinidad State Junior College Trojans 74-72 in first round action of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX Tournament at the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium on Saturday.

The Knights jumped out to a 6-1 lead for their largest lead of the half.  There were four lead changes and one tie in the first half with Trinidad holding a 38-34 lead at halftime.

The Knights quickly tied the game back up in the second half at 38.  With the score tied at 45, the Knights went on an 11-3 run to take a 56-49 lead for their largest lead.

The Trojans fought back and took the lead 60-59 on a field goal by Yephnick Adelphonse.  The lead changed six more times and the Trojans led 72-68.

The Knight’s Michael Mitchell hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to cut the Trojan lead to 72-71.

With 10.3 seconds to go in the game, Mitchell attempted another three-pointer which missed, but Mitchell was fouled on the shot and went to the line for three shots.  He made all three shots to give the Knights the lead 74-72.  The Trojans put up a last second shot but it fell short to give the Knights the win.

The Knights improve to 19-12 on the season and move on to the quarterfinals of the Region IX tournament.

Diontae Champion led the Knights with 27 points and 10 rebounds.  Mitchell and Leito Holloway each had 11 points and Tyree Peter finished with 10 points.

Peter had eight rebounds, five offensive and three defensive rebounds.  The five rebounds gave him 136 for the season which broke the Knight’s single season offensive rebounding record that was held by Dave Benson from the 1987-88 season.  The previous record was 133 offensive rebounds.

Trinidad State finished their season at 15-16.  They were led in scoring by Treyvon Andres with 21 points.  Chris Williams had 18 points and Elijah Kess finished with 13 points.  Andres also had eight rebounds to lead the Trojans.

Other scores from the Region IX Tournament, hosted by the higher seeded colleges are:

South Sub-Region

#1 Otero 72, #8 McCook 53

#7 Northeastern 65, #2 Lamar 64

#6 Western Nebraska 80, #3 Laramie County 79

North Sub-Region

#1 Gillette had a bye

#2 Casper 130, #7 Little Big Horn 84

#6 Central Wyoming 96, #3  Western Wyoming 89  OT

#5 Miles 77, #4 Northwest Wyoming 75

The remainder of the tournament will be held in La Junta, Colo, starting March 3.