First Half Lead Lost

In a recent matchup in Region IX south conference, the Plainsmen traveled out east to play against the McCook Community College Indians.  Both teams are sitting about equal in standings, so by getting this win for either team could play out to be huge down the road.  With both teams bearing the weight of the game on their shoulders, the ball was tossed up and play begun.

The game would go back and forth with Northeastern and McCook exchanging points, but after six minutes had passed, NJC would start to build their lead.  The Plainsmen would find themselves going on a little run, and with six minutes left to go in the half, NJC would lead 33-20.  Six minutes is still a lot of time, so they knew that they couldn't let McCook come back and make it a game, so they buckled down and played solid defensively and kept their lead 46-30 at halftime.

In a few of their games, the Plainsmen have allowed their opponents to squeak out a run in the second half that have either let them back in the game, or made it tough to come back, and they were hoping that they would not allow that to happen again.  The half would begin by each team adding their points to the scoreboard respectively, but at the 6:30 mark history would repeat itself.  The Indian's run would begin with a three pointer, and then a missed jumper by NJC and a turnover would give them eight points.  After a missed jumper and an offensive rebound by Ron Hall, NJC would call a timeout to get everyone on the same page with the score being 73-65 with the Plainsmen leading.  Following the timeout, another missed jump shot would lead to another McCook three.  The Plainsmen would finally be able to get two points on the board after Burwell would hit two free throws after a foul.  Northeastern would keep missing shots while McCook would capitalize and get points to bring the score to a tie at 77 with little under two minutes to go.  In those last two minutes, the Plainsmen would have troubles scoring as the Indians would tack on a few more and end the game defeating NJC with a score of 85-79.

The Plainsmen will have a chance at improving their record as they host non-conference opponents Northwest Kansas Tech on Wednesday January 17 and Air Force Prep on Friday January 19.