The North Platte Community College Knights men’s basketball team saw their season come to an end with a 58-54 loss to Western Nebraska in the quarterfinals of the Region IX tournament in Scottsbluff last night. After beating Northwest College in the first round, the Knights took the tournament’s host and top seed down to the wire. In a game that featured seven ties and eight lead changes, the Knights tied the score at 54 with two minutes to play on a Ben Wilson layup, but went scoreless the rest of the way as the Cougars made four of six free throws for the winning margin. Nick Tomsick’s 32 points led the Knights in defeat. Tomsick had 19 of those points in the second half as he propelled the Knights’ comeback from an eight-point deficit. The Knights conclude their season with an 18-14 record.