Knights close opening weekend with win over Lancers

North Platte, Neb. – North Platte Community College men's basketball team prevailed over the Lancers of Eastern Wyoming College on Saturday afternoon, 85-72.

The Knights had a battle on their hands early, as the Lancers jumped out to a 4-7 lead in the opening 2:41 of the first half. North Platte answered as German Plotnikov found a cutting Trevon Dennis for the one-handed jam to bring the Knights back within one, 6-7.

Lancers pushed their lead to five with 13:51 remaining in the half, but the Knights continued to stay around cutting the deficit back to one just a minute later, on a floater by Mitar Cakovic. Knights and Lancers continued to trade baskets for the next four minutes as the deficit never climbed over five points during that span.

Inside the final eight minutes, the Knights captured their first lead of the game on a reverse layup by Dennis, 20-19. It took nearly two minutes for Eastern Wyoming to respond, as they managed to retake the lead and extend their advantage to five as the clock moved inside six minutes.

Despite being down by five, the Knights continued to chip away at the lead cutting the deficit to one possession multiple times over the next five minutes, before closing out the half on a 4-1 run. During the run, Plotnikov energized the Knights with a steal and a layup in transition, before Butler's mid-range jumper jumper gave the Knights a one-point advantage at the break, 37-36.

North Platte stretched their lead to five in the opening two minutes of the second half on another mid-range jumper by Butler and a layup by Timur Krupalija, 41-36. Eastern Wyoming trimmed the deficit down to three, before the Knights launched a 14-0 run over the next four minutes to extend their lead to seventeen, 60-43.

North Platte continued to apply the pressure defensively and stretched their lead to nineteen as the clock moved inside ten minutes to play on a contested layup by Butler, 70-51. Eastern Wyoming attempted to swing the momentum cutting the Knights lead down to fourteen inside the final four minutes.

The North Platte defense continued to force the Lancers into some tough looks at the basket over the remaining minutes and closed out Eastern Wyoming for their second win of the season.

Plotnikov paced the Knights in scoring with a season high 31 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field. Caleb Horne finished the afternoon as the Knights top rebounder collecting seven boards in thirty-one minutes of action.

North Platte (2-2) will look for redemption on Wednesday against Colby Community College. The Knights and Trojans met during the opening week of the 2021-22 season, with Colby defeating the Knights, 84-72. Tip is set for 7pm at the Colby Events Center in Colby, Kan.