The North Platte Community College Knights basketball team lost in overtime to the Otero Junior College Rattlers 82-80 Friday night at the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium.

The Knights started out slow allowing the Rattlers to jump out to an 11-2 lead with 15 minutes left in the half.  The Knights followed up with an 11-3 run to cut the Otero lead to two, 15-13.

The Rattlers continued to lead through the first half until the Knights Mark Gilbert hit two free throws to tie the game at 26.  DJ Miles of the Rattlers went to the free throw line and hit one of two to give the Rattlers a one point lead.  On the next possession Gilbert hit a 3-pointer to give the Knights their first lead 29-27 with two and a half minutes left in the half.

The Knights maintained their lead into the half and led 32-29 at the break.

The second half began with the Knights extending their lead by going on a 7-2 run to make the score 39-31.  After a field goal by Tim Wagner the Knights held a 64-54 lead.

The Rattlers then went on a 12-2 run to tie the score at 66.

With the Rattlers leading 74-72, the Knights Leito Holloway hit a pair of free throws to send the game into overtime.

The Rattlers scored the first four points in the overtime period.  The Knights answered with the next five points to take a 79-78 lead.  Chuck Gavin of Otero made a layup to make the score 80-79 in favor of the Rattlers.

Tyree Peter was sent to the free throw line and hit one of two to tie the score at 80.  Otero’s Brandon Book hit the game winning free throws with 6.5 seconds to go.

Fouls and free throws was the name of the game.  There was a total of 68 fouls between the two teams and 92 total free throws shot.  The Knights made 30 of 47 while the Rattlers made 29 of 45.

The Rattlers improve to 15-3 on the season and 5-0 in Region IX South Sub-Region play.  They had four players in double figures led by Miles who had a game-high 26 points.  The other three to score in double figures for the Rattlers were Gavin with 14, Vince Holmes with 13 and Book with 11.  Holmes had a double-double with 12 rebounds.

The Knights drop to 8-8 on the season and 2-4 in South Sub-Region play.  They were led by Leito Holloway with 20 points.  Diontae Champion finished with 14 points and Victor Lewis had 10 points.  Champion also grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Knights.