Indians finish strong in close win over North Platte

NORTH PLATTE – McCook Community College’s Djibril Diawara hit a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left in the game to break a 71-71 tie as the Indians downed North Platte Community College Wednesday 75-71. The win was MCC’s third straight in Region IX South play to start February.

Mo Diao (Darkar, Senegal) hit one of two free-throws with 5.9 seconds left to help seal the win. Diao is a sophomore transfer who played last season for North Platte and had a "monster game" on defense against his former team.

“That was a resilient win for our group,” said MCC Coach Dillon Hargrove. “We faced adversity early and even into the second half and continued to play through struggles and just found a way to win.”

The Indians rallied down the stretch and trailed by 11 points, 57-46 with 10:41 left in the game, hit some key 3-pointers and made eight of 11 free throws in the final 10 minutes of the game.

“At the four-minute mark we went on 8-0 run started by Vladimir dunk,” said Hargrove.

MCC was down 68-58 with five minutes left in the game and trailed 68-61 when “Mr. Energy” – Vladimir Brkovic (sophomore, Uzice, Serbia) ignited the offense with his dunk at the 3:10 mark. Diawara (freshman, Aulnay-sous-Bois, France) hit a 3-pointer with 2:49 left and Brkovic hit a 3-pointer of his own at the 2:07 mark to give MCC a 69-68 lead.

North Platte reclaimed the lead with a bucket, but Diawara responded hitting a pair of free throws with 1:25 remaining to put MCC back in front, 71-70.

The Knights made one of two free throws to tie the game at the 1:02 mark. MCC got an offensive rebound on their next possession which kept the play alive for Diawara’s eventual game-winning 3-pointer.

“Always tough for us to go on the road and get the win especially in a rivalry game like this one,” said MCC Assistant Coach Drake Henderson. “This was a heck of a win for us tonight. 

The Knights started the game strong and went on top and pushed the first-quarter lead to 11 points before MCC responded with a 9-0 run in the final three minutes of the first half before NPCC hit a pair of free throws to take a 36-32 lead at intermission.

“North Platte is a really talented team, but in the first half we didn’t play great at all,” said Henderson. “We did not play hard enough or team basketball. At half time we talked about how we needed to play harder and play together and they did that in the second half.”

On the defensive end in the second half, MCC held North Platte to 29.3 percent shooting and the Knights made just four of 16 3-pointers.

“In the second half we did a good job of switching our defense from man to zone, back and forth,” said Henderson. “A lot of that had to do with how well Mo protected the rim.” 

Diawara led MCC with 27 points. He made four of six triples and went nine-for-nine from the free-throw line. Sophomore Nate Coley (Little Rock, Ark.) scored 21 points and made seven of eight free throws and grabbed six rebounds.

“I thought Nate and Djibril played a great game and made some big plays down the stretch,” said Hargrove. “And Mo Diao does what he does and almost ended with a triple-double.”

In his return to North Platte, Diao scored 11 points, nabbed 11 rebounds and blocked nine shots. He made five of six shots from the free-throw line.

MCC shot 43.6 percent from the field (46.4 percent in the second half), made five of 15 triples (33.3 percent) and made 22 of 27 free throws (81.5 percent).

“This was not our best night offensively but our defensive effort especially in the second half is what led us to the win tonight,” said Henderson. 

North Platte shot 33.8 percent from the field, went eight-for-35 from distance (22.9 percent) and hit nine of 15 free throws (60 percent). The Knights held a 50-41 rebound edge.

Elsewhere around the region, Northeastern Junior College routed Southeast 78-47 in Lincoln; Lamar posted a 90-65 win at home over Western Nebraska and Trinidad State scored a 95-77 road win over Otero at La Junta, Colo.

With Wednesday’s scores, NJC takes over the lead in the standings at 8-2, Lamar takes over second place at 7-3, MCC and North Platte are tied at 6-4, Trinidad State is fifth at 4-5, Southeast is sixth at 3-6, Western Nebraska seventh at 3-7 and Otero eighth at 2-7.

The Knights go to 14-11 on the season. MCC improves to 16-10 overall.

“This was a very good team win for our guys in crucial time in the season,” said Hargrove. “I was very proud of them.”

The Indians next play Feb. 18 against Western Nebraska at Scottsbluff. MCC’s final home game will be Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. against Northeastern Junior College.

“I’m really proud of our effort in the second half and we’re glad to come out on top,” said Henderson. “We’re going to take advantage of not having a game this weekend and rest up and get ready for a tough game on the road at Western Nebraska.”

Up-to-date information about MCC men’s basketball including livestream links for home games, schedule, statistics, rosters, photos and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com