The NCMC Pirates Men's Basketball squad was unable to defend their home court on Wednesday night as the fell to Region 16 rival MCC-Penn Valley 96-84.  With half the region schedule completed, the Pirates now sit at 1-1 in region and 10-8 overall.  The loss is the Pirates' second straight defeat in the Ketcham Community Center after falling to Kansas City Kansas CC on Monday.  The losing streak in total is at 3 games.

"It was another tough one for us last night. Credit Penn Valley for making a lot of tough jump shots in the first half and we could just never recover. I was proud of our guys and how we didn't give up in the second half but for the second game in a row we just couldn't get over that hump. We had some opportunities to cut the lead to a two possession game and just couldn't capitalize on them. Hopefully we got better last night and learned what it's going to take from here on out," remarked Coach Esry of his team's efforts. 

Next up for the Pirates will be a tough road test as they travel to North Arkansas CC on Saturday.  North Arkansas currently holds a 15-4 record and has yet to be defeated on their home court.