January 17, 2015 5:00 pm • By Zach Chriswell / zchriswell@columbustelegram.com

COLUMBUS -- In their first game in over a month, the Raiders struggled against a tough opponent.

The Central Community College men's basketball team fell to North Platte 78-47 Friday at the Raider Fieldhouse.

"We played a very good team," Central head coach Jerry Drymon said. "We didn't play very well and they did. We got exactly what we deserved."

The Knights scored the first six points of the game from back-to-back 3-pointers.

From there, the Raiders went on a 7-0 run to take their first and only lead of the game.

North Platte took the lead back and built a nice cushion with a 17-4 run and in total, outscored the Raiders 34-25 in the first half.

"I thought we struggled with the pressure (in the first half)," Drymon said. "Their pressure dictated us, what we could run. We've got to get to the point where we can handle pressure and we can run what we need to run to be successful."

North Platte strengthened the lead, going on an 8-2 run to start the second half.

The Knights kept control throughout the remainder of the game, keeping the Raider offense at bay.

"It was more of the same in the second half," Drymon said. "After halftime, we just didn't do a very good job of creating our own momentum and making the adjustments we talked about at halftime."

One of the bright spots for Central, according to Drymon, was rebounding. The Raiders outrebounded the Knights 35-34.

"We rebounded the ball pretty well for us," he said. "From a rebounding standpoint, that's as good as we've done all year."

One of the issues in the loss, Drymon explained, was the lack of game-time experience in the past month.

"(North Platte has) played three or four games and it's our first one back in a month," he said. "It's almost like starting completely over. Hopefully we can learn from this and start getting game legs back."

Cameron Williams led the way for North Platte, scoring 29 points and recording five steals.

"He's a really good player," Drymon said. "He's probably one of the top two guards we've gone against this year. He makes them go. As much as you talk about trying to guard him, it's difficult to do. He's got a great first step, can make jump shots -- he's just a really good ball player."

Matthew McLeod scored a team-high 19 points for the Raiders, while Connor Long added nine points, and Shawn Robinson tallied seven points.

Central hosts Brown Mackie College today.

Friday at the Raider Fieldhouse

North Platte 34 44 - 78

Central (3-15) 25 22 - 47

* NORTH PLATTE (field goals-free throws-fouls-points) - Cameron Williams 8 11-12 3 29; Luke Pittle 0 2-4 1 2; Matt Thomas 3 2-2 1 10; Xavier Hall 1 0-0 0 2; Shyquinn Dix 3 1-2 1 8; CJ Polk 1 2-4 3 4; Riley Rice 1 0-0 1 2; Tyree Peter 1 2-2 1 4; Loick Pouale 0 0-0 1 0; Marco Pascolo 4 2-2 2 11; Michael Mitchell 1 2-2 0 4; Fadhil Robinson 0 0-0 2 0; Mark Gilbert 1 0-0 1 2. Totals 24 24-30 17 78.

* CENTRAL - Ojuok Thok 1 1-2 0 4; Shawn Robinson 3 0-0 1 7; Matthew McLeod 7 3-4 3 19; Tyrone Clayton 1 0-0 5 2; Thomas Johnson 1 0-2 1 2; Connor Long 3 2-2 2 9; David Joachim 1 1-3 3 3; Nietzche Jeantinor 0 1-3 2 1. Totals 17 8-16 17 47.

* 3-point field goals - North Platte 6 (Williams 2, Thomas 2, Dix 1, Pascolo 1), Central 5 (McLeod 2, Long 1, Thok 1, Robinson 1).

Saturday's Game

COLUMBUS -- The Raiders were right there at halftime, but it was another game that got away.

The Central Community College men's basketball team fell to Brown Mackie College 90-72 Saturday at the Raider Fieldhouse.

"I thought the effort was pretty good in both halves," Central head coach Jerry Drymon said. "Defensively, we wanted to force them to shoot 3-pointers. They shot 18 and only hit three, so that was effective. They had good size and we had a tough time rebounding the basketball and that was probably the toughest part of the game. We really struggled against their size."

Brown Mackie took a 43-37 lead by halftime.

Despite struggling on the boards, Drymon felt good about the effort in the first half.

"We were doing some good things. We were concerned about the rebounding aspect," he said. "Offensively, we shot OK in the first half, but we got a little tired, especially toward the end. Guys got a little tired at the end and guys struggled with shooting at that point."

Brown Mackie outscored the Raiders 47-35 in the second half.

Shawn Robinson led the Raiders with 21 points.

"He was pretty aggressive," Drymon said. "He did a nice job of using screens and getting some nice looks."

Thomas Johnson scored 17 points, and Connor Long added 12 points.

Macam Macam led Brown Mackie with 27 points.

"He's an interesting story. He's actually deaf and mute," Drymon said. "He's got very good hands. He jumped over our guys and there wasn't a whole lot we could do to negate that size. We're 6-4 and he's 6-11."

Central travels to Graceland University Tuesday.

Saturday at the Raider Fieldhouse

Central (3-16) 37 35 - 72

Brown Mackie 43 47 - 90

* CENTRAL - Shawn Robinson 21, Thomas Johnson 17, Connor Long 12.

* HOME - Macam Macam 27, Ahasuerus McDonald 20, Nigel Jones 13.

* 3-point field goals - Central 7 (Robinson 1, Tyrone Clayton 2, Thomas 2, Long 2), Brown Mackie 3 (McDonald 1, Ajak 2).