The Central Community College men's basketball team lost its first game of the 2022-23 season with an 81-75 setback on Tuesday night at Northeast Community College.

The contest began with a pair of runs. The Hawks jumped out to a 9-0 lead before the Raiders took off on an 11-1 blast for an 11-10 lead at the 14:24 mark. With about two-and-a-half minutes to play in the first half, CCC built its biggest lead of at 40-26. Northeast scored the final eight points, and the Raiders went to the locker room with a 40-34 halftime lead.

CCC (2-1) went back to a double-digit lead in the first three minutes of the second half, 47-36. Northeast picked up steam and rattled off a 16-4 run to take a 52-51 advantage with 9:44 to play. The Raiders and the Hawks remained close until the 2:25 mark when CCC trailed 71-70. Northeast closed the contest with a 10-5 run to secure the 81-75 win.

Trey Deveaux led three CCC players in double figures with 18 points while Derek Merwick scored 17 points. Aidan Graham scored 11 points off the bench.