North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights men’s basketball team avenged an earlier loss in the season by defeating the McCook Community College Indians on Wednesday at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium in Region IX South Sub-Region play with a score of 91-68.

The Knights took the lead at the beginning of the game, jumping out to a 21-11 lead.  The Indians went on an 18-8 run to tie the score up at 29 points apiece.

The Knights took the lead right back by going on a 7-1 lead to lead by six at 36-30.  The Knights led at halftime, 41-36.

In the second half, the Knights continued to increase their lead.  The Knights had their largest lead with 26 points at 89-63.

The Knights are 21-3 on the season, and an 8-2 mark in South Sub-Region play.

The Knights had five players score in double figures, led by Courtney Murrell, from Carrollton, Texas, who had 25 points. Jakub Karwowski, from Warsaw, Poland, finished with 18 points. Da’May Jones, from Houston, Texas, and Edgars Kaufmanis, from Valmiera, Latvia, each had 12 points.  Ilya Tyrtyshnik, from Kiev, Ukraine, added 10 points.

Karwowski had six blocked shots and eight rebounds. Kaufmanis led the Knights with nine rebounds. Murrell had seven assists.

The Indians, 10-17 overall and 2-8 in Region IX South Sub-Region play, were led in scoring by AV Banks and Peanut Cunningham with 15 points.

Cunningham also had six rebounds to lead the Indians.

The Knights finish out the home portion of the regular season when they host Lamar Community College on sophomore night. It will be the final regular season home game for Karwowski, Nelo Nducuia, from Maputo, Mozambique, and Tyrtyshnik.

The game will follow the women’s game at about 7 p.m.