Knights weather the Storm at home

North Platte, Neb. – Davion Evans led North Platte with 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting, as the Knights avenged an earlier season loss to Southeast Community College 76-72 on Saturday afternoon inside the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium.

Aleksa Rudic posted a season high 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Ramiah Adedigba tallied 11 points and three assists, as North Platte shot 37.3 percent (28-75) from the field against the Storm.

Knights and Storm battled it out in the opening minutes before a baseline jumper by Antwone Gonzales energized the North Platte offense. The margin stayed under six for the next 2:35 until Gonzales connected on a pullup jumper to stretch the Knights lead to 28-20. North Platte continued to hold the momentum down the stretch as a deep three by Rudic extended the lead to nine as time expired on the opening half.

Southeast rebounded in the early minutes of the second half, as a steal and dunk in transition helped the Storm recapture the lead with 15:28 remaining. Josh Townley-Thomas responded on the Knights next offensive possession with a baseline jumper to spark an 11-0 run to recapture the momentum.

North Platte stretched their lead to 64-51 when Evans found Kayden Crosby in the lane for the open layup, but slowly the Storm chipped away at the deficit. Over the next 5:23, the Storm closed the margin to one possession as the Knights came up empty on a couple of key offensive possessions.

Inside the final minute the margin was trimmed to 72-70, but the Knights worked the ball around the perimeter until Evans found a crease and connected on a runner in the lane. Southeast kept the game tight by answering on their next offensive possession, but the two-handed flush would not erase the four-point deficit, forcing Southeast to send the Knights to the free throw line in the closing seconds.

Evans stepped to the line and knocked down his two attempts to extend the margin to four, which would prove to be enough for North Platte to close out the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference win.

North Platte (11-10) will hit the road for a rematch against rival McCook Community College on Tuesday, Feb. 14. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. inside the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center.