There was a point in time when the North Central Missouri College men’s basketball team was averaging 100-plus points per game. But as the Pirates climbed the rankings and more and more teams began playing zone defenses, that scoring average began to dip.
The scoring average isn’t nearly as important as the results and for the Pirates the results have been tremendous. On Tuesday night at the Ketcham Community Center, the Pirates found their shooting stroke and ran up triple digits with a 114-70 victory over the visiting Culver Stockton University junior varsity.
After picking up three of their last four wins with scores in the 70s, the Pirates busted loose offensively, getting a tremendous shooting night from beyond the arc. Jackson Andrews led that charge, knocking down six three-pointers on his way to a team-high 21 points. Andrews was hardly the only Pirate to reach double figures in this one, though, as six of his teammates joined him in that category.
Jeramy Shaw was the second-leading scorer on the night, finishing with 16 points and Quinan Rieves added 13. Atavian Butler and Jonathan Richmond each had 12 points and Michael Horton added 11. Rayonte Childs rounded out the Pirates’ double-digit performers, finishing with 10.
The win was the 16th in a row for the Pirates and it was never in doubt as North Central’s first half total matched Culver Stockton’s mark for the entire game – 70 points.
The Pirates, who maintained their number-one ranking in the NJCAA Division II National Poll on Monday, moved to 20-1 overall on the season with the victory. NCMC will be at home on Thursday night, hosting the Missouri Valley junior varsity,. The Pirates will then return to Region 16 play on Saturday, traveling to Kansas City to take on Metropolitan Community College. North Central is 1-0 in the region after picking up a win over St. Louis at home in Trenton last Saturday. Tip time for the region rivalry is set for 3 p.m.
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