Plainsmen Advance to Championship

March 6, 2020, Sterling, Colo. — The Western Nebraska Cougars met the Northeastern Junior College on the Plainsmen's home turf at the NJCAA Region IX Tournament, but fell 94-84 to the Plainsmen in spite of Teddy Allen's 34 valiant point effort for the Cougars.

The Plainsmen jumped out to a 14-3 lead on a string of four three-pointers over rival Western Nebraska, then things cooled down real quick for the hosting team. The Cougars took full advantage of the Plainsmen's cold shooting from beyond the arc with an effective mix of three pointers and inside shots to command the lead through the first period. Northeastern, down at one point by double digits, found enough baskets inside to erode Western Nebraska's lead to 43-40 by the half.

It was a different story in the second period though as the Cougars quickly surrendered their lead and never got it back. Northeastern, lead by double-point contributions from Dalton Knecht (24), Mohamed Diablo (21), Cyler Kane-Johnson (14) and Andrew Ferris (13) sealed the win to move on to face Western Wyoming in Saturday night's tournament title game at the Bank of Colorado Event Center here.