North Platte Men hand MCC an 86-68 loss at home.

The North Platte Community College Men shot 55.9 percent from the field Tuesday in an 85-68 win over McCook Community College in the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center.

The Knights shot 61.4 percent in the first half and four of nine from the 3-point line to take a 42-36 halftime lead, then gradually took MCC out of the game in the second half.

"We flat-out didn't play well tonight," said MCC Coach Jacob Brandl. "We weren't ready to guard how we wanted to and how we needed to."

The coach was disappointed his team failed to execute the game plan which allowed North Platte to shoot so well from the field.

"Credit to them, they were making plays and this game meant more to them," Brandl said. "This happened twice last year. The games don't mean enough for our basketball team right now."

The Knights outscored MCC 43-31 in the second half. North Platte made six of 20 shots from long-range (30 percent) and went 13 of 22 from the free-throw line (59.1 percent). The Knights won the rebound edge 40-36, had a 14-7 advantage in assists, had eight steals and six blocked shots.

Five North Platte players scored in double figures led by a game-high 27 points from German Plotnikov.

MCC shot 35.4 percent from the field, made two of 18 3-point shots (11.1 percent) and went 19 of 29 at the line (65.5 percent).

Damien Perry (Wareham, Mass.) led MCC with 22 points. DaMiene Boles Jr. (Dayton, Ohio) scored 21. D'Andre Dennis (Charlotte, N.C.) led MCC with eight rebounds. Ezichi Kalu (Lagos, Nigeria) scored nine points and had six boards.

 "Ultimately I've got to look at myself, it's got to be a coaching deal, because it hasn't changed and we've got to figure some stuff out here because the season can get away from us fast," Brandl said. "Anything can happen once you get to tournament play but we have got to start figuring some stuff out especially from a toughness standpoint."

MCC goes to 4-17, 1-5 in Region IX South and 0-2 in the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference.

North Platte improves to 6-9, 1-3 in Region IX South and 2-0 in the NCCA.

MCC will be home Sunday as part of a women's/men's doubleheader. The women start at 1 and the men will play at about 3 p.m.

For more photos from tonight's game, please visit the MCC Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MPCCMcCook