Pirates Basketball cruised to an 85-68 win Tuesday night in the Ketcham Center over Missouri Valley College JV.  NCMC is now 6-4 on the season ahead of a rematch with Labette Community College this weekend.  Earlier this year, the Pirates lost by seven points to the Cardinals despite a halftime lead.

From the tip, the Pirates were far superior athletically to Missouri Valley JV.  By halftime, the Pirates had pushed their advantage to 48-24.  Coach Esry commented, "It was a tale of two halves for us.  I was really pleased with our bench energy and how we played as a team in the first half but the second half I thought we just kind of put it on cruise control and possibly picked up some bad habits."

Freshman Marty Jackson led the scoring for the Pirates with 14.  Also in double figures were Soloman Thomas, Cameron Lockett and Yacento Scott Jr. who all tossed in 11 points.

Esry knows that tougher opponents are ahead and in order for the team to reach their goals, great focus is needed.  "We end this semester with three tough games, two of them on the road and for us to win them we are going to have to give consistent effort for 40 minutes in each of the games."