Knights open weekend with loss to Golden Eagles

Cheyenne, Wyo. – Knights men's basketball team returned to the hardwood on Friday to take on Laramie County Community College after a thirteen-day hiatus. North Platte fell behind early but continued to battle for all forty minutes, before eventually falling to the Golden Eagles, 77-71.

Laramie County jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the opening minutes of the contest. A pick and roll executed perfectly by German Plotnikov and Timur Krupalija gave the Knights their opening basket of the game with 17:22 to play in the opening half.

Knights trimmed the deficit down to three over the next 1:22 after a steal turned into a layup opportunity for Krupalija, 6-9. Laramie County extended their lead back to five before a corner three by Nolan Sughroue pulled the Knights back within two, 9-11. The Golden Eagles answered by pushing their lead to nine inside eleven minutes remaining in the half, before a timeout on the floor helped the Knights regroup.

Out of the timeout, Plotnikov scored on back-to-back offensive possessions to pull the Knights back within five with 10:01 remaining in the first half. Laramie County responded with a 12-2 run to extend their lead to fifteen inside the final seven minutes. Knights managed to outscore the Golden Eagles 17-11 over the closing minutes, but Laramie County held on to a seven-point advantage as teams headed into the halftime break, 35-42.

The Laramie County lead grew back to double digits in the opening minutes of the second half, before a corner three by Nico Felici sparked a 7-2 run to pull the Knights back within five, 45-50. North Platte continued to chip away at the Laramie County lead over the next five minutes and managed to trim the deficit to two on a Caleb Horne free throw line jumper, 56-58.

Golden Eagles halted the Knights momentum and extended their lead back to double digits before North Platte attempted one last run at the Laramie County lead. Horne collected the offensive rebound and was able to get his contested putback to fall to cut the deficit to eight with 2:26 remaining, 63-71.

Laramie County responded by capitalizing on two free throw opportunities to extend their lead back to ten on their next possession. Sughroue answered for the Knights receiving the inbound and sprinting up the floor to complete the free throw line jumper to pull North Platte back within eight, 65-73.

North Platte shrunk the deficit down to six with just over a minute remaining, but the Golden Eagles held off the Knights in the closing seconds to earn the 77-71 win.

Felici had a career night on the floor tallying 27 points on 8-of-17 shooting to accompany his three assists and one steal. Krupalijia closed out the game with his second double-double of the year totaling 16 points and ten rebounds against the Golden Eagles.

Knights (3-5) will look to rebound against the Lancers of Eastern Wyoming College at 5pm in Torrington, Wyo. on Saturday afternoon. Knights won their opening matchup of the season defeating the Lancers at home, 85-72.