Knights take down Southeast

Beatrice, Neb. – Nolan Sughroue had a career-high 19 points, as the Knights held off the Storm of Southeast Community College on Wednesday night, 94-81.

Timur Krupalija opened the scoring with the first two baskets of the game. The Storm answered and took their first lead of the contest at the 15:25 mark of the first half. North Platte and Southeast battled over the next three minutes until the Knights recaptured the momentum.

Nico Felici raced through the lane and got his runner to fall igniting the Knights offense. The North Platte defense tightened up, as the margin grew to 10, 46-36, inside the final minute. As the remaining seconds ticked off the clock, the Storm cut the deficit to six as the teams headed into the break.

To open the second half, North Platte stretched their lead to eighteen on a pull-up jumper by Sughroue. Southeast would battle back to trim the deficit down to 11 as the clock moved inside the final five minutes.

Jevarrick Butler responded by receiving the pass from Sughroue and connecting on a three to spark the Knights. North Platte stretched their lead back to 17 on a free throw line jumper by German Plotnikov, before the Storm closed the game on a 9-5 surge.

Butler had 20 points and a career high 8 assists over thirty-seven minutes of action. Plotnikov finished the game with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting against the Storm.

As a team, North Platte had their best shooting performance of the year, connecting on 58.2 percent (39-67) of their shots from the field, including 6-of-13 from the perimeter.

North Platte (5-7) will open the weekend with a road trip against the Trojans of Trinidad State College on Friday, Jan. 21. Tip is set for 8 p.m. at the Scott Gym in Trinidad, Colo.