North Platte – The bracket for the 2014 Region IX Tournament was announced Sunday with the No. 18 North Platte Community College men’s basketball team (25-4, 12-4 South Sub-Region) earning the No. 2 seed in the South Sub-Region. The Knights open up the tournament in the very first game at 2 p.m. CST in Sterling, Colo. against the No. 7 seed from the North Sub-Region, the Central Wyoming College Rustlers (12-16, 6-10 North Sub-Region).
The No. 10 Northeastern Junior College Plainsmen (26-3, 13-3 South Sub-Region) are the host after winning the South Sub-Region and earning the No. 1 seed. Gillette College (26-3, 15-1 North Sub-Region) earned the No. 1 seed from the North Sub-Region.
The Knights are led by sophomore Ethan Montalvo at 19.0 points per game. Montalvo has scored 1,116 career points as a Knight and currently is 6th All-Time on the career scoring list. Cameron Williams, a freshman, is the Knights second-leading scorer at 13.7 points per game after his career-high 33 points Saturday. Tim Simmons, a redshirt sophomore, is the Knights third leading scorer at 11.7 points per game. Simmons has scored 660 points as a Knight and currently sits 49th on the All-Time career scoring list.
The Rustlers are led by Daryle Morgan Jr. who averages 15.5 points per game. Eimer Lopez is Central Wyoming’s second-leading scorer 9.5 points per game and Isaiah Tademy is third at 9.4 points per game. The Rustlers have made their mark this season by allowing the fewest points per game in Region IX at 67.4 points per game. The Knights are second in the region allowing 68.9 points per game.
The winner of the Knights and Rustlers will advance to the Region IX Quarterfinals on Monday, March 3 at 2 p.m. CST to face the winner of the No. 3 North Sub-Region Casper College (18-11, 11-5 North Sub-Region) and No. 6 South Sub-Region Lamar Community College (11-19, 7-9 South Sub-Region).
On the Knights side of the bracket, the Region IX Semifinals tips at 7 p.m. CST on Tuesday, March 4. The Region IX Championship is scheduled for Wednesday, March 5 at 8 p.m. CST. The winner of the Region IX Tournament advances to the National Tournament held in Hutchinson, Kan. from March 17-22 2014.