MCC Men top North Platte 91-84; move on in post-season

For the second-straight season the McCook Community College men ended the season for North Platte. On Saturday MCC downed the Knights 91-84 in a first-round Region IX play-in game in North Platte.

"I'm really proud of our guys tonight," said MCC Coach Jacob Brandl. "We have shown flashes of this offensively throughout the year and at practice and we finally put one together tonight."

MCC raced to leads of 18-5, 25-12 and exploded for 50 points in the first half, including 27 from beyond the 3-point line. MCC went nine of 16 from the arc in the first half (56.3 percent), shot 51.4 percent from the field and made five of six free throws (83.3 percent.).

In the transition game, MCC converted 10 first-half Knight turnovers into 22 points and it all added up to a 50-33 halftime lead.

North Platte came out with 17-6 run to open the second half to cut the lead to 56-50 with 13:40 left to play.

"This was a big time game -- it's a rival game -- and North Platte is as tough and as well-coached as they come and they never folded," Brandl said. "They kept coming and making plays, but I'm proud of how we stayed with it and handled the runs and answered every run they had."

Sophomore Damien Perry (Wareham, Mass.) led MCC with 28 points, including a six-for-12 showing from the 3-point line. He scored 17 points in the first half when he went five-for-eight from distance.

 Beni Fungula (sophomore, Stockholm, Sweden) came off the bench to score 23 points. He went seven-for-15 from the field and nine of 10 from the free-throw line. The MCC bench outscored NPCC 34-6.

Sophomore DaMiene Boles Jr. (Dayton, Ohio) was the other MCC player to reach double-digit scoring finishing with 11 points.

MCC shot 49.2 percent for the game, went 11 of 21 from the 3-point arc (52.4 percent), and made 18 of 24 free throws (75 percent). MCC scored 26 points off 14 NPCC turnovers and had 34 points in the paint compared to 24 for the Knights

North Platte finished shooting 30.8 percent in the second half and 37.7 for the game. The Knights made eight of 22 3-pointers (36.4 percent) and went 30-for-37 from the line (81.1 percent). NPCC scored 14 points off 12 MCC miscues.

The Knights held the edge on the boards 41-35. They were led in scoring by freshman German Plotnikov with 28 points. He made four of eight 3-pointers. Freshman Nico Felici added 20 points. Timur Krupalija scored 14 points and led all players with 11 rebounds.

North Platte ends the season at 13-13. The Knights were the No. 4 seed in Region IX South and MCC was No. 5. One year ago it was MCC that was the No. 4 seed and North Platte fifth, as the two teams faced off in the play-in game in McCook with MCC winning 73-68.

MCC goes to 11-19 and moves on to the round of eight when the Region IX Tournament heats up Thursday, Friday and Saturday. On Thursday the four remaining teams in the south face the four teams in the north. Times and opponents will be determined after the weekend games.

"Anything can happen in playoff basketball, we have to stay hungry and stay focused on the end goal which is to continue to play tough smart basketball," said Brandl.

REGION IX TORUNAMENT (At LaJunta, Colo.)

     Thursday Schedule (All times MT)

     Trinidad State vs. Casper, 1 p.m.

     Western Nebraska vs. Western Wyoming, 3 p.m.

     McCook CC vs. Laramie County Community College, 5 p.m.

     Eastern Wyoming vs. Otero JC, 7 p.m.

             2022 REGION IX MEN

FINAL SOUTH DIVISION STANDINGS

                                    DIV.    OVERALL

Otero                          9-3          23-6

Trinidad State              8-4          14-11

Lamar                         6-6          15-11

North Platte                 6-6          13-12

McCook CC                  5-7          10-19

Western Nebraska        4-8          15-13

Northeastern JC          4-8            8-16

REGION IX SOUTH PLAY-IN SCHEDULE

     Saturday First Round Games

     McCook 91, North Platte 84 (at North Platte)

     Western Nebraska 79, Lamar 68 (at Lamar)

     Trinidad State 87, Northeastern JC 75 (at Trinidad)

FINAL NORTH DIVISION STANDINGS

                                    DIV.    OVERALL

Western Wyo.                9-1          23-3

Laramie Co. CC              7-3          16-11

Casper                          7-3          17-12

Eastern Wyo.                 4-6          14-15

Northwest Wyo.             2-8          12-16

Central Wyo.                 1-9            8-18

REGION IX NORTH PLAY-IN SCHEDULE

     Saturday First Round Games

     Eastern Wyoming 99, Northwest Wyo. 85 (at Torrington)

     Casper 91, Central Wyo. 75 (at Casper)