Men's basketball kept on rolling this weekend when they posted a pair of wins in the NCMC Classic. On Friday, the Pirates downed Spoon River College 100-89 before defeating Illinois Valley CC 103-79 to improve their season record to a perfect 11-0. Ranked 3rd in the nation, Coach Esry's squad will next tangle with Allen County CC on the road Wednesday. Tipoff in Iola, KS is set for 8pm.
Against Spoon River, the Pirates got out to a nice first half lead of 51-39 and cruised to victory. Leading the offensive charge was Tyler King with 34 points on 11-20 shooting. Jon Carroll had a stellar game off the bench, chipping in 17 points and pulling down 5 rebounds. Camden Bennett also shot the ball well, netting 4-6 from deep in route to his 21 points. Keeping the game close for the visiting Snappers was Ignacio Nascimento who poured in 27 points including 5 made threes.
Illinois Valley gave NCMC a tough first half battle for a while before trailing at the half by 12 points. NCMC spaced the game nicely in the second half thanks to a very balanced attack. In double figures for the Pirates were starters Carroll (22 points), King (18 points), Giovanni Mack (17 points) and Bennett (15 points) plus Za'Corrie Kerr (15 points) off the bench. NCMC shot a robust 56.8% from the field plus forced 18 Illinois Valley turnovers.
