The North Central Missouri College men routed the Braves junior varsity from Ottawa (KS) University on Wednesday night, winning 118-76 in a game that featured a number of highlight-reel dunks and a mountain of points for the Pirates.
Jordan Reece had 26 points to lead the Pirates, with Jalen Gant adding 18, and M.J. Johnson 13. Jake Salisbury, a freshman center from Grain Valley, had an effective 11 point night, as 13 North Central players reached the scoring column.
The win was valuable for Coach Jeremy Esry for a variety of reasons, most noticeably changing the recent trend that saw North Central struggling on the Ketcham Community Center floor:
The win improves North Central to 12-8 on the season. Tonight (Thursday night) at 5:30, the Lady Pirates return to action, hosting the Graceland University (IA) JV at 5:30. On Saturday afternoon, the NCMC women and men travel to the Forest Park campus of St. Louis Community College, playing the Archers in a 1 o’clock / 3 o’clock doubleheader. Coverage from St. Louis begins at 12:45 on Hot Country Z 101.7 for the rematches between the rivals. In January, St. Louis won the women’s game while the Pirates took the men’s encounter in Trenton.
