Men's Basketball | 11/15/2025 8:18:00 PM

Box Score The Cloud County Community College men's basketball team ended non-conference play with a 94-88 comeback win over North Platte Community College on Saturday, November 15. The T-Birds shot over 63 percent from the floor in the second-half and dominated the Knights in the paint and on the glass to improve to 5-1 on the season.

Cloud County scored 56 second-half points and erased a 13 point deficit with under five minutes of play to pick up their third straight victory over North Platte. The T-Birds ended the game on a 24-5 run over the final 4:43, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers by sophomore guards Syncere Burnette and DJ Holloway, as well as a pair of dunks during the scoring run from redshirt freshman Manasseh Stackhouse and freshman D'ontez Walker.

Freshman forward Al Brooks Jr. led the way for Cloud County, scoring 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Brooks, the current Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division I Men's Basketball Player of the Week, also recorded 12 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals before fouling out of the contest.

Burnette finished with 18 points, a team-high six assists, four rebounds and two steals. Burnette connected on three of Cloud County's eight made three-pointers in the game.

Walker was also in double-figures, pouring in 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go with a game-high 13 rebounds.

The T-Birds controlled the glass, 45-35, and outscored the Knights 24-10 in second-chance points and 48-28 in points in the paint.

Holloway came off the bench to contribute eight points. Stackhouse tallied seven points, seven rebounds and four steals. Sophomores Kuel Akot and Elidjah Savane had six points each, while sophomore Samuel Akot finished with five points and three rebounds.

Cloud County raced out to an early 10 point lead just over five minutes into the contest. But the T-Birds struggled to shoot free-throws in the first half, making just 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from the charity stripe in the opening 20 minutes of play. The first half featured three lead changes and four ties and the game was knotted up at 38-all entering the break.

North Platte captured its first double-digit advantage at the 13:26 mark of the second half. The Knights remained in control, building their lead out to 13 points at 83-70 on a free-throw by sophomore Justus Michael with 4:43 remaining.

The T-Birds pulled to within nine points following back-to-back three-pointers by Holloway and Burnette. Savane was fouled away from the basketball on the Burnette made triple, and added two made free-throws to cut the margin to seven points with four minutes to play.

Playing in front of an electrified crowd, the T-Birds then put together a 9-2 run, pulling even at 87-87 on a layup by Brooks with 2:47 to go.

North Platte regained the lead on a free-throw by freshman John Sims IV, but the advantage was short-lived. Stackhouse threw down a thunderous dunk on an offensive putback. Following a missed three-pointer by the Knights, Walker delivered another slam on a fast-break to put Cloud County up three, 91-88, with 1:07 remaining.

The T-Birds sealed the outcome with late free-throws by Burnette and Walker.

Cloud County opens Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play on Wednesday, November 19 against Seward County Community College. The game will start at 8 pm inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium, and will be streamed live on the T-Bird Sports Network. The game will also be broadcast on NCK 94.9 with Austin McNorton on the call.