Panthers hold on for win
NCCC – Andrew Towne
 
The Neosho County Community College Panthers escaped with their 16^th win of the season on Saturday night with a 101-95 win over the Highland Community College Scotties.  The win improved the Panthers to 10-6 in conference play. 
 
For the first 35 minutes of the game the Panthers controlled every aspect of the game.  With 5:35 remaining in the contest Neosho County held an 86-66 lead and looked to cruise home to a big victory.  That is when everything changed.
 
“We did a nice job defensively, but that last five or six minutes we started letting guys get open that we had guarded all game,” stated Head Coach Jeremy Coombs following the game.
 
Over the next four minutes the Panthers suffered a major collapse.  A 24-6 run by the Scotties would bring them within two inside a minute to go.
 
“They started pressuring us and we turned the ball over, which we had not done much of all game,” said Coombs.
With the score sitting at 92-90, the Scotties turned to fouling the Panthers, the worst shooting free throw shooting team in the league, shooting 61 percent on the season.
 
In the closing minute of the game, redshirt freshman Bryan Newton (Colony, KS), would hit three of his four free throw attempts to give the Panthers a 99-95 lead with eight seconds left in the game.
 
“They wanted to put us at the line hoping we would miss,” explained Coombs.  “We did a nice job of stepping up and knocking them down.
 
On the ensuing inbounds play, Brison White (Wichita, KS) would steal the ball and score the final bucket of the game ensuring the victory for the Panthers.
 
“We have to finish a game,” indicated Coombs.  “We have to play 40 minutes.”
 
The Panthers had four players in double figures, led by Brison White (Wichita, KS) with 24 points. Chris Patton (Victoria, Australia) added 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Tyler Hickert (Bunbury, Australia) had 13 and Thomas Drew (Grand Rapids, MI) with 11.  The Scotties were led in scoring by De'Andre Upchurch with 29.
 
For the game the Panthers shot 47 percent from the field, and went 35-47 (77.8 percent) from the free throw line.  The game also featured a total of 82 free throws attempted, 57 personal fouls, and three technical fouls.
 
The Panthers will hit the road on Wednesday night and travel to Coffeyville, Kansas to take on the Red Ravens, the #4 team in the nation.  Tip-off is schedule for 8pm.
 
HCC        36   59 – 95
NCCC     44   57 – 101