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Turnovers plague MCC men
North Platte
dumps Indians
To relieve tension during games, McCook Community College men's basketball coach Ty Orton squeezes a stress ball.
During Wednesday night's home game against rival North Platte Community College at True Hall Gymnasium, the stress ball was placed on the permanent disabled list after Orton squeezed the life out of it.
The MCC Indians committed 25 turnovers and lost a close, tense battle to the NPCC Knights 67-59.
Despite the tough setback and the loss of his tension reliever, Orton is optimistic that his team is getting better.
"I saw in their eyes that this team wanted to win this game," said Orton, whose team dropped to 8-12 overall, 0-2 in the Region IX East Sub-Regional and 0-1 in the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference.
"This game could be a stepping stone to get us back on the right path. This team can do a lot of great things. We matched up with them (the Knights). They got to the line quite a bit (13-of-19), but the difference was the turnovers.
North Platte led at halftime 28-27 after MCC led most of the way in the first half.
NPCC pushed its lead to 47-34 and 62-49 before the Indians battled back with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 62-57. The Knights outscored MCC 5-2 in the final minute.
Clint Napoleon led the Indians with 17 points and Noel Cardinelli added 10.
Mark Versen chipped in with 8 points, Shea Scarlett 6 and Nate Lark 6.
Sterling Link scored just 2 points, but grabbed 9 rebounds, handed out 4 assists and blocked 6 shots.
Four Knights scored in double figures, led by Danny Tucker with 17 points.
Nathan Wilson scored 12 points, Joseph Odugbela 11 and Eugene Parker 10.
Odugbela grabbed 8 rebounds and Parker 5. Philippe Jourdain scored 7 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished off 7 assists. Tucker had 4 steals and Parker 3.
North Platte improved to 11-6 overall and 1-1 in Region IX East Sub-Region play.
"They scored 23 points off turnovers," Orton said. "A lot of it was fatigue, we had one kid on suspension and Jeremy Mallard was playing with a second degree shoulder separation.
"But we're going to keep doing what we're doing. We don't have to change anything. Even though we lost, I'm really happy with the way we played. The kids still want to go after it."
The MCC men play a Region IX game at Sterling, Colo. Friday night against Northeastern Junior College.
Game time is 8:30 p.m. central time/7:30 p.m. mountain time.
The Plainsmen are 16-1 and ranked sixth in the NJCAA Division I.
North Platte CC (11-6) 28 39 -- 67
McCook CC (8-12) 27 32 -- 59
North Platte: Eugene Parker 10, Jourdain 7, Joseph Odugbela 11, Nathan Wilson 12, Danny Tucker 17, Smith 5, Frahm 5.
McCook: Reeves 2, Mallard 4, Noel Cardinelli 10, Clint Napoleon 17, Scarlett 6, Wamsley 4, Versen 8, Link 2, Lark 6.