The North Central Missouri College men’s basketball team is facing a transition entering the 2018-2019 season. Gone is the reigning Region 16 Player of the Year and Division II NJCAA All-American Jalen Gant. On the roster are 10 new faces.
For one night, at least, none of that mattered.
The Pirates put on a show in the season opener at the Ketcham Community Center on Thursday, blitzing the Graceland University JV 113-66.
“I loved our energy and I loved our effort,” North Central Head Coach Jeremy Esry said. “I think we are going to have to hang our hat on that all year.”
The energy North Central brought to the game was evident from the opening seconds as the Pirates scored first on an alley-oop to Jordan Reece, the team’s lone returning all-region player. From that point on there was no looking back for North Central as the Pirates pulled out to a 55-29 lead at halftime and continued to stretch the margin in the second half.
“That energy and effort makes up for a lot of mistakes,” Esry said. “If we can play that hard and cause other teams to make mistakes I think we will be okay. We still have a long way to go, but I am just really pleased, one through 16, with how hard we played. Hopefully, the fans saw that we are going to be here every night and we are going to play that hard. We might be a little frustrating at times, but we will have a fun brand of basketball this year.”
Reece would go on to lead North Central in the lopsided victory, scoring 19 points to go with four assists and three steals. He got a big helping hand from freshman Marty Jackson, who came off the bench to score 18 points and pull down eight rebounds.
Behind that duo, NCMC got 13 points and four steals from Soloman Thomas and 11 points from Kobe Cooper. A total of 13 of the 16 Pirates in uniform found their way into the scorebook in the win.
vs. JOHN WOOD
On Saturday, North Central made its first road trip of the season, traveling to Quincy, IL to take on John Wood Community College. The Pirates battled to a 32-32 tie at halftime, but a cold shooting day would doom the Pirates as John Wood ran away with the game in the second half, outscoring North Central 51-35 in the second half.
NCMC was paced by Cameron Lockett, who had 23 points in the loss.
North Central now sits at 1-1 overall on the season following the split to start the year. The Pirates will be at home on Tuesday as part of a women’s-men’s doubleheader at the Ketcham Community Center. Both NCMC teams are playing host to Ellsworth Community College. The women’s game tips off at 5:30 p.m. with the men’s contest to follow at 7:30.
Both NCMC teams are on the road next weekend at the Kansas City Kansas Community College Classic. The men will face Labette Community College at 4 p.m. on Friday and host KCKCC at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
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