Freshman guard Megan Ernzen led the North Central Missouri College women on Wednesday night with 29 points, leading the Lady Pirates to a much-needed mid-February victory, 79-68 over the visiting Graceland JV. The win improves NCMC to 7-16 overall, with the Lady Pirates, after an 0-4 in Region XVI play, locked into the #3 vs. #2 seed semifinal in the Region 16 tournament in Jefferson City in two weeks.
The Pirate men played strong on the road last night, traveling to Ottumwa, Iowa to play D-1 powerhouse Indian Hills. Despite a double-digit lead in the first half, and a one-point lead at the break, NCMC failed to hold onto that momentum in the final 20 minutes. A well-timed zone defense by Indian Hills slowed down the Pirates offense, as IHCC rallied for a 99-84 win, dropping NCMC to 11-13 on the season.
Marty Jackson led the Pirates offensive attack with 25 points, with Jordan Reece adding 18, Emil Spriggs 11, and Soloman Thomas 10 points.
For the Region 16 semifinals in Jefferson City, Pirate Coach Jeremy Esry has confirmed that North Central will play Metropolitan-Penn Valley in the semifinal round at 4 o’clock on Thursday, February 28th at Lincoln University’s Jason Gym. The winner will play St. Louis in the Region XVI final. In is unknown, until after Saturday’s STLCC/MCC game, whether the Pirates will have a #2 seed or #3 seed for the game, which would only affect “home and away” status for the neutral site affair.
