Cheyenne, WY – The No. 3 North Platte Community College men’s basketball team (14-1, 6-1 South Sub-Region) suffered their first loss of the season on Wednesday night to Laramie County Community College Golden Eagles (14-6, 5-2 South Sub-Region) 78-82. The Knights trailed by 12 points at half and could never get over the hump in the second half, cutting the lead to two with under a minute to go.

The Knights opened the first half sluggish and were never able to find their rhythm as they only shot 41 percent from the field in the first half. Sophomore Ethan Montalvo kept the Knights in the game by scoring 15 first half points. Deshon Portly and Deon Edwin paced the Golden Eagles with 14 and 11 first half points to take a 45-33 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, the Knights hung around but could not cut into the Golden Eagles lead until the under-five minute mark. The Knights forced a couple Laramie County turnovers and converted in transition to cut into the lead. After one such steal and lay-up by Kenyon Gist, the Knights cut the deficit to two points and immediately fouled.

Laramie County missed two free throws and gave the Knights an opportunity to tie or win the game with 23 seconds left. The Knights were unable to score and called a timeout with five seconds remaining. The Knights were unable to score and Laramie County hit two free throws to earn the hard fought victory.

Ethan Montalvo scored a game-high 28 points in defeat. Cameron Williams was the only other Knight to score in double-figures as he finished with 21 points. Portley finished with 26 points while Edwin finished with 15. The Golden Eagles shot 33 free throws in the game to the Knights 17.

“Always tough to lose, especially the first one of the season,” said assistant coach Nathan Wieseler. “We need to have a good day of practice before we face two tough opponents this weekend.”

The Knights return to action Friday at 7:30 p.m. as they travel to face the Southeast Community College Storm (16-5). The Knights remain on the road Saturday to face the Central Community College Raiders (14-3) at 3 p.m. The Knights have two more road games next week before returning home Wednesday January 29 to face the McCook Community College Indians (12-4, 3-2 South Sub-Region) at 7:30 p.m.