For the second time in eight nights, the North Central Missouri College men challenged the #1 (NJCAA Division 2) ranked Southwestern Community College Spartans, and unlike last Tuesday, when Jeremy Esry’s squad gave up 103 points in a road loss, the Pirates were confident they could turn the tables on SWICC inside the Ketcham Community Center on Wednesday night.
Despite a strong start by the Pirates, a 16-0 surge by the Spartans that saw North Central struggle with Southwestern’s athleticism in the half-court trap game, put North Central down by double digits. Despite playing stronger as the game progressed, the deficit proved too much to overcome for NCMC, as SWICC got the 91-80 road win, in action broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7 and U-Click TV.
Terence Shelby Jr. led Southwestern with 23 points, with 15 points put on the board by Khallid Edwards, Chad Moran, and Gatdoar Kueth. Ryan Warren came off the bench to add 10 to the winning side. North Central, in falling to 5-4 on the season, had 19 points from Jalen Gant, with Jake Salisbury tallying 16, Jordan Reece 15, and Cody Glenn 13 points.
NCMC will host the Graceland JV on Friday night at 7:30, looking to get victory #6 of the season.
