North Platte clips MCC men at home 80-77

North Platte freshman Alex Harper hit five free throws in the final 12.5 seconds of the game Tuesday to lead North Platte Community College to an 80-77 win over the McCook Community College men.

"All week we talked about four-minute games and that's how it's been all year and coming down to a four-minute game," said MCC Assistant Drake Henderson. "With the intensity of this game – who they are and who we are and what this game meant, we knew it was going to be a close game at the end and put ourselves in a really good position to win it, and we just didn't get things to go our way."

MCC's Vladimir Brkovic (freshman, Uzice, Serbia) hit a clutch 3-pointer with 1:35 left in the game to tie the game at 73. The Indians got a stop on the defensive end and a fast-break layup by sophomore Madison Peaster (Little Rock, Ark.) to give MCC a 75-73 lead with 1:18 to play.

At the North Platte end it was Harper who was fouled with :55 seconds left. He hit both shots to tie the game at 75.

Brkovic was fouled on the ensuing possession with one second left on the shot clock and 25.4 seconds left on the game clock. He hit both foul shots to put MCC back in front 77-75.

Harper responded at the North Platte end and was fouled on a 3-point shot with 12.5 seconds left and hit all three free throws to put the Knights up 78-77. After MCC came up empty on their possession, Harper was fouled and put the game away with two more free throws with one second left for the final score of 80-77.

"This one was another we really wanted, and I thought our guys played really well but at the end the calls just didn't go our way," said Henderson.

Harper was 13 of 14 at the line and lead all scorers with 23 points. Mo Diao had 20. Trey Summers, who spent parts of the past three seasons with MCC, finished with 12. It was his 3-point shooting early that led North Platte to a 16-3 in the first 4:47 of the game. MCC came back and took a 43-34 lead at halftime.

"I thought our guys did everything we asked them to do tonight, we made big shots and had talked about taking the right shots and knowing who you are and getting to the rim and I thought we did that really well tonight," said Henderson.

MCC shot 58.6 percent in the first half, 40 percent in the second half and 50 percent for the game. The Indians made six of 12 shots from the 3-point line and went 17 of 21 from the line.

North Platte shot 41.8 percent from the field, made nine of 24 threes (37.5 percent) and went 25 of 33 from the free-throw line (75.8 percent). The Knights held a 37-30 rebound edge.

Peaster led MCC with 16 points with six boards. Sophomore (Tavarius Vinson, Chicago, Ill.) scored 13 points and had five rebounds. Freshman Nate Coley, (Little Rock, Ark.) scored 11 points.

North Platte – under former MCC Coach Jacob Brandl – is 6-4 in the Region IX South standings, tied for second and 87-10 overall – the most overall wins in the region. The Knights will finish out the schedule hosting Otero Friday and Trinidad State Saturday.

MCC goes to 2-8 in the standings and 12-16 on the season. MCC also closes out the regular season at home hosting first-place Trinidad State (6-3, 13-13) Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Otero (4-5, 10-14) Saturday at 4 p.m. Sophomores will be recognized prior to the game.

"We've got to get back to work and focus on those games and the tournament coming up and we're looking at it as a fresh slate for post-season where it will be win-or-go-home," said Henderson.

Up-to-date information about MCC basketball including livestream links, schedule, statistics, rosters, photos and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com 

REGION IX SOUTH D-1 MEN'S STANDINGS
                             W-L    PCT     OVERALL
Lamar CC               7-4   .636      9-15 (.375)
Western Nebraska   6-4   .600    11-15 (.423)
Trinidad State         6-4   .600    13-14 (.481)
North Platte            6-4   .600    18-10 (.643)
Otero College         5-5   .500    11-14 (.440)
Northeastern JC      4-7   .364     9-19 (.321)
McCook                  2-8   .200    12-16 (.429)

TUESDAY'S RESULTS
North Platte 80, McCook CC 77 (at McCook)
Otero College 85, Trinidad State 82 (at La Junta)

REMAINING MCC SCHEDULE
Friday – Otero College at McCook CC (7:30 p.m.)
Saturday – Trinidad State at McCook CC (4 p.m.)