When the North Platte Community College Knights men’s basketball team plays the McCook Community College Indians it is a tough fought ball game.  Wednesday’s game was no exception. The Knights defeated the Indians 80-77.

McCook jumped out to an early lead 9-3 in the first minute and a half in the game.  The Indians led by as many as seven 25-18 with 10 minutes to go in the first half.  The Knights outscored the Indians over the next four and a half minutes 15-7 to take a 33-32 lead on a field goal by Marco Pascolo.  Through the rest of the half the Knights held on to the lead and led 42-38 at halftime.

In the second half, the Knights stretched out their lead by going on a 15-10 run to lead 57-48.  The run was highlighted by seven consecutive points by Shyquinn Dix.

With the Knights leading 67-57, the Indians began to cut away at the Knights lead.  The Indians trailed by one with less than 15 seconds to go in the game.  CJ Polk was fouled and sent to the free throw line, where he made both shots.  The Indians had the ball on their side of the court with 4.3 seconds left.  The Knights protected the 3-point circle to make sure that the Indians didn’t have a free shot to tie the game.

The Knights had six players score in double figures led by Marco Pascolo who ended up with 14 points.  Cameron Williams was next in the scoring column with 13 points.  The other four Knights in double figures are Tyree Peter with 12 points,  Matt Thomas, Polk and Dix each added 11 points in the contest.

The Indians had four players hit the double digit mark.  Clint Thomas led the way with 21 points, former North Platte High School and Papillion-LaVista stand out Trey Moore added 17, Cody Wudtke scored 13 points and Dominic Cain had 11 points.

The Knights improve to 18-4 overall and 9-1 in the Region IX.  McCook falls to 13-9  and 5-5 in the region.

The Knights play Central Community College at home on Friday in a Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference game.  The Knights beat Central on their home court 78-47 earlier this year.

The game is designated as “Mentoring Night”.  All mentors and mentees will receive free admission and a bag of popcorn.

The game may be seen on the Internet on www.coachesaid.com.

Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. CST.