The 9th ranked Northern Oklahoma College Mavs finished off Labette with a 20-4 run in the second half and beat the Cards 68-52 at Foster-Piper Fieldhouse Monday night in the first game of the spring semester.
NOC (15-1) was led by Demaree King and Avante Lederer with 15 points each. Deaveon Bankston added 11 off the NOC bench.
The Mavs led Labette at half 36-22 but the Cards cut the NOC lead to 42-37 with 11:34 remaining.
Over the next five minutes, the Mavs outscored Labette 20-4 to put the Cards away taking a 62-41 lead with 6:44 remaining. Lederer had seven points while Bankston had five during the Mavs’ run.
“It wasn’t the prettiest first game back from break but we did play hard,” said Mavs’ coach Donnie Jackson. “We weren’t the sharpest or best executing team but we made a couple big runs in the game that gave us the edge we needed.”
“Deaveon (Bankston) was really disruptive and active for us,” Jackson added. “I thought he was a difference maker.”
The Mavs host Connors Jan. 9 as conference games resume.
“It’s all conference games from here on out,” Jackson said. “We need to get better in a short period of time if we want any chance to be competitive in the always rugged Region 2 grind.”
Mavs 68, Labette 52
1 2–Total
Labette 22 30– 52
Mavs 36 32– 68
Mavs–D. King 15, A. Lederer 15, D. Bankston 11, A. Boykin 6, P. Grafals 6, M. Crawford 5, T. Morgan 4, J. Ray 3, B. Tanner 3.
Northern Oklahoma College, the state’s first public community college, is a multi-campus, land-grant institution that provides high quality, accessible, and affordable educational opportunities and services which create life-changing experiences and develop students as effective learners and leaders within their communities in a connected, ever changing world.
NOC, a public two year community college, serves 4,200 students on the home campus in Tonkawa, branch in Enid, NOC/OSU Gateway Program in Stillwater, online, and the University Center in Ponca City.
In 2019, NOC celebrated the 20-year anniversary of the Enid campus and a 15-year partnership with OSU for the Gateway Program.
NOC is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers associate degrees in three general areas: Arts, Science and Applied Science. The associate degree fulfills lower-division course work which is applicable towards a bachelor’s degree.
Call (580) 628-6200 for more information about Northern Oklahoma College or visit www.noc.edu .
