NPCC Athletics
North Platte, Neb. – Madison Cheleen led the Knights with 11 points, but a fourth quarter rally helped lift the Hawks of Northeast Community College to a 51-44 win on Saturday.
Cheleen scored six of her 11 points in the first half, while Zaily Mazarin and Nariah Golden each finished the game with eight points apiece. North Platte forced 23 turnovers but managed only nine points in transition.
Trailing 35-32, Northeast outscored the Knights 19-9 in the final ten minutes to earn the come from behind win. The Hawks opened the quarter with an 8-0 run, before the Knights rallied back to knot the game up at 40-40 with 6:16 remaining.
Northeast used an 11-2 run over the next 2:35 to take their largest lead of the game, 51-42. North Platte went cold from the field until Mazarin connected on a baseline jumper inside the final minute. Northeast managed to maintain possession in the closing seconds to earn the win.
Knights finished the game shooting 22.4 percent (15-67) from the field, while connecting on 7-of-30 from long range. Northeast shot 40.8 percent from the field, while generating 22 bench points in the win.
The Knights jumped out to an 8-0 lead on back-to-back three pointers from Cheleen. Mia Wiederin broke up the run with an inbound jumper from the baseline, but the Knights lead stretched to 13-2 with 4:08 remaining in the first quarter. Hawks closed the period on an 8-2 run to cut the margin to five at the quarter break.
Hawks stretched their run into the early minutes of the second quarter to knot the game up at 17 on a three from Aaliyah Jones. The black and gold traded baskets with the Hawks over the final six minutes as teams remained deadlocked at the halftime break.
Knights (3-3) return to the road for the Iowa Central Community College Classic beginning on Friday. North Platte will open with the Tritons of Iowa Central at 5 p.m.