Plainsmen hold off Knights in Region IX matchup

Sterling, Colo. – North Platte held the momentum early, but Northeastern Junior College countered to earn the 88-81 win inside the Bank of Colorado Event Center on Tuesday night.

Bruce Carpenter led the Knights with 35 points on 12-of-29 shooting from the field, while teammates Ramiah Adedigba (18) and Davion Evans (10) rounded out the Knights in double figures.

In the opening half, the Knights utilized a 10-3 run to stretch their lead to seven on a jumper by Carpenter with 12:34 remaining. The Plainsmen would not stay down long and quickly responded with a long run of their own to knot the game up at 26-26. Northeastern kept their momentum rolling over the final seven minutes of the half, while utilizing another run to build a 45-35 lead at the halftime break.

In the second half, North Platte narrowed the margin to 45-41 on a Carpenter layup in the opening minutes. The Plainsmen responded by extending their lead back to double digits, before a 7-0 spurt capped off by a Adedigba layup cut the deficit to four.

Northeastern once again answered by pushing their lead to double digits, but another North Platte rally closed the margin to five with 6:50 to play. The Plainsmen continued to hold the momentum in the closing minutes as they fought off the final rally to earn the win.  

North Platte (9-9, 0-4 Region IX South) will look to get back on track against Western Nebraska Community College on Thursday. The Region IX matchup will tip-off at 7 p.m. inside the Cougar Palace in Scottsbluff.