On the heels of back-to-back losses and defeats in five of their last seven games, the North Central Missouri College men’s basketball team was in need of a turnaround.
Over the last three days, that’s exactly what they got.
North Central scored a big-time Region 16 win on the road in Kansas City on Saturday, defeating Penn Valley 98-92, and followed that up with a 94-80 home victory over the Culver-Stockton junior varsity on Monday night in the Ketcham Community Center in Trenton.
North Central’s performance on Monday night wasn’t all that pretty, but the Pirates got the victory, creating a two-game winning streak to snap what was a two-game slide. Jalen Gant led NCMC against Culver-Stockton, scoring 24 points. Jordan Reece added 17, MJ Johnson had 16 and Jake Salisbury finished with 12.
“It was a little bit of what you would call an ugly win, but a win that we will take for sure,” Pirates Head Coach Jeremy Esry said. “Hopefully we can learn from it and get better. Coming off a big win Saturday, we knew there would be a little struggle playing another game so close together, but if we want to make a run in March, we are going to have to get used to it. We showed some glimpses tonight, but still need to get more consistent.”
The Pirates used a consistent offensive attack against Penn Valley, scoring 50 points in the first half and 48 in the second. Defensively, NCMC was able to step things up in the second, limiting the Scouts to just 40 points over the final 20 minutes to seal the region win and close the league portion of the schedule with a .500 mark at 2-2.
“I was very pleased with how we competed,” Esry said. “The guys were completely focused and did what they needed to do to win.”
Leading the way for the Pirates against Penn Valley was Gant, who had 24 points and 12 rebounds. Ryan Ward added 17 points and three assists and Reece had 13 points and six assists. NCMC also got 12 points each from Johnson and Yacento Scott Jr. off the bench.
North Central could technically be in a three-way tie for the region’s best record, depending on the outcome of Penn Valley’s home game with St. Louis on Feb. 24. A win by the Scouts would make all three teams in the region 2-2 and launch a series of tiebreakers to determine seeding for the post-season tournament.
NCMC WOMEN FALL
Things looked good for the Pirates early in the women’s contest as North Central grabbed a 24-19 lead after the opening 10 minutes against Penn Valley, but things went downhill from there. Penn Valley rallied to tie the game in the second quarter, then used a 31-point effort in the third quarter to put North Central in a 70-59 hole entering the fourth quarter. NCMC couldn’t come back as Penn Valley continued to hound the Pirates with a half-court press. North Central managed just 13 points in the stretch run, succumbing to the Scouts, 87-72.
“We played well in the first quarter, but we were plagued with turnovers after that,” North Central women’s Head Coach Jenni Croy said. “Penn Valley’s half-court pressure gave us fits. We had moments of doing good things, but then struggled to stop them on defense.”
The Pirates were paced by Kendey Eaton, who scored a team-high 24 points in the win. Sarah Lamp followed with 15 points and 15 rebounds and Whitley Richman had 12 points and 17 rebounds.
With the loss, North Central fell to 18-8 overall. It was the third-straight loss in Region 16 play for the Pirates and dropped their mark in that league to 1-4.
EATON REACHES 1,000
While the loss was far from a highlight, North Central did see Eaton reach a career milestone, scoring her 1,000th point. Eaton is just the fourth player in the history of the North Central women’s program to reach 1,000 career points, joining Cassie Hunt, Stephanie Beason and Leigh Mead. North Central will honor Eaton for her accomplishment ahead of this Saturday’s game against Southeast Community College at the Ketcham Community Center.
UP NEXT
NCMC Women: The North Central women will travel to Nevada on Wednesday to face off with Cottey College in the final Region 16 game of the season. Tip off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
NCMC Men: The North Central men will have another home date with a JV squad on Thursday when the Missouri Southern State University junior varsity travels to Trenton. Tip off between the Pirates and Lions’ JV is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Ketcham Community Center.
Both Pirate squads play host to Southeast Community College at home on Saturday. The women’s contest gets things started at 2 p.m. and the men will follow at 4 o’clock.
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