Saturday the North Central Missouri College basketball teams honored their sophomore athletes between games against North Arkansas College. In the games, the Lady Pirates fell 66-54 leaving their final regular season record at 21-9. The Pirates' men's team claimed a 97-83 win to finish the regular season with a 17-10 mark.
Sarah Lamp led the Lady Pirates with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists while Kendey Eaton scored 11 points. Whitley Richman chipped in 8 points and 8 rebounds.
On the men's side, Jalen Gant poured in 25 points and Ryan Ward added 16 points in their final games at the Ketcham Center. Also in double figures were freshmen Jake Salisbury (14pts), Cody Glenn (12pts), and Jordan Reece (10pts).
"What a way for our sophomores to go out on sophomore day! I loved our energy for one another on the bench 1 thru 15 and was so proud of how our guys played, especially our sophomores. Chance Edwards, Jordan Leonard and Harris Cameron stepped up big time for us! Chance and Jordan hit some great shots offensively and Harris was a beast on the glass all night. Ryan Ward and Jalen Gant remained consistent with hitting shots and finishing around the rim. North Ark is a very well coached team that plays extremely hard and our guys knew in order to compete with them we had to match their intensity which I believe we did. Hopefully we can keep this train rolling into region play this week", commented Coach Esry of his team's sophomore day effort.
Both NCMC teams will be in NJCAA Division II, Region XVI Tournament action at Lincoln University in Jefferson City on Friday. The women face MCC-Penn Valley in the opening round on Friday at 5 p.m. while the men face St. Louis CC at 7 p.m.
