Knights hold off late surge by Broncos to seal home win

North Platte, Neb. – Ramiah Adedigba scored 23 points to lead all scorers, as North Platte hung on late to defeat Hastings College JV 98-95 in a tightly contested battle on the hardwood Tuesday night.

Adedigba connected on 9-of-16 of his shots from the field, while North Platte as a team shot 45.8 percent from the floor and forced 16 turnovers in the game to close out the Broncos.

Bruce Carpenter and Antwone Gonzales combined for 41 points, which helped erase a three-game losing skid for the Knights dating back to Nov. 9.

In the opening half, the Knights and Broncos fought valiantly in the opening minutes as the margin never exceeded five, until the Knights launched an 11-2 run sparked by a free throw line jumper by Gonzales. Carpenter kept his teammates involved during the run, accounting for two points and one of his four opening half assists during the stretch.

Broncos attempted to switch the momentum over the final three minutes, but the Knights managed to take a double-digit lead into the halftime break.

An early second half surge helped the Knights extend their lead to 60-40 in the opening minutes. The Broncos responded with a run of their own to cut the margin to 66-57 on a transition layup by Hayden Grint.

Knights held strong despite their lead shrinking to five inside the final ten minutes, as they regained the momentum and the double-digit advantage with 7:09 remaining. Broncos slowly creeped back into the game over the remaining minutes cutting the deficit to one on an Airan Lopez three pointer.

North Platte and Hastings exchanged free throw attempts inside the closing seconds, before an unusual play nearly brought the Broncos all the way back with a buzzer beating three.

Under two seconds remaining the Knights inbound would land in the hands of former North Platte native Jack Heiss who attempted a half court three. His shot skipped off the iron, allowing the Knights to escape the last second heroics to claim their fourth win of the season.

North Platte (4-3) will return to the hardwood Friday, Dec. 2 against Eastern Wyoming College. Tip is set for 7 p.m. inside the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium.