HUGE RALLY FALLS JUST SHORT FOR NORTHEAST SATURDAY AGAINST NO. 18 KIRKWOOD

NORFOLK, Neb. – The Northeast Community College men's basketball team welcomed No. 18 Kirkwood Community College to the Cox Activities Center in Norfolk Saturday for a matchup against the defending national champions. The Hawks fell in the showdown by a final score of 74-72.

Northeast (7-7, 3-5 ICCAC) trailed by as many as 19 points in the contest but slowly chipped away at the deficit and had a chance to win the ballgame in the final seconds. Scottie Johnson (Denton, Texas) was the leading scorer for the Hawks with 18 points while Sunny Singh (Queens, N.Y.) recorded 17 of his own. The Eagles missed a free throw with nine seconds remaining ahead by two on the scoreboard and the Hawks were able to get off a clean look for the win, but a 3-pointer from Johnson rattled out.

It will be off to the road this week for the Hawks as they will look to build off Saturday's strong performance against Central Community College Wednesday night and North Iowa Area Community College Saturday afternoon.

STAT SHEET:

Scottie Johnson (Denton, Texas): 18 PTS, 9 REB

Sunny Singh (Queens, N.Y.): 17 PTS, 3 AST

Ryan Huston (York, Neb.): 16 PTS, 6 REB

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:

Head Men's Basketball Coach Josh Clark on the afternoon against the No. 18 Eagles:

"Kirkwood led by 19 early in the first half and our offense was stagnant," Clark said. "We called a timeout and got things adjusted. We held them to 29 points in the second half. If we shot better from the free-throw line, we would've been right there. It's the little things that always decide a game, and more times than not comes down to shooting free throws."

Clark on hitting the road this week:

"We're excited to head to Central on Wednesday," Clark said. "We may be young, but we play hard and our guys give it everything they have. We have two tough games this week and we're looking forward to it."

UP NEXT:

The Hawks will battle Central Community College at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Columbus, Nebraska.

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