No. 18 NPCC Knights End Region IX With Victory Over Laramie County

North Platte – The No. 18 North Platte Community College men’s basketball team (24-4, 12-4 South Sub-Region, 4-1 NCCAC) ended their Region IX regular season schedule with a victory over the Laramie County Community College Golden Eagles (17-11, 8-7 South Sub-Region) by a score of 91-81.

The Knights got off to a fast start in the first half as they opened up a 48-31 lead at the break on the strength of 63 percent shooting from the field and 71 percent shooting from the 3-point line. The Knights placed two players in double-figures in the first half as Ethan Montalvo had 16 and Tim Simmons had 12. The Golden Eagles only had one player in double-figures as Deshon Portley finished with 13 points at intermission.

In the second half, the Knights were able to hold on to earn the victory as Laramie County outscored the Knights 50-43 mainly on the strength of 18 second half points from Portley.

Montalvo led the Knights with 29 points while Simmons finished with 22 points. Tre’Vaun Hymer had his second straight game of 19 points off the bench for the Knights.

“It was a great win for our team,” said Montalvo. “I thought we played great as a team and Tim and Tre’Vaun have had back-to-back strong games.”

Portley led all scorers with 31 points. Darien Fernandez, Deon Edwin and Spencer Svejcar all finished with 10 points for the Golden Eagles.

North Platte then closes out the regular season on Saturday Feb. 22 as the Southeast Community College Storm (19-9, 0-4 NCCAC) comes to town. The Storm are a NCCAC opponent and a win would clinch the conference our-right for the Knights for the third straight year and ninth title in ten years. The Knights defeated the Storm on Jan. 17 in Beatrice 83-68 behind a career-high 40 points from Ethan Montalvo.

The Knights currently lead the NCCAC with a 4-1 record. McCook Community College is in second place with a 3-2 record with Central Community College in third place with a 3-3 record and Southeast is fourth with a 0-4 record. McCook and Southeast square off on Friday before the Storm head to North Platte for the Saturday game.

The game Saturday will be live streamed by Coaches Aid. A link to the broadcast can be found by going to www.npccknights.com and clicking on the “Live Video” link.