The North Platte Community College Knights men’s basketball team wrapped up an impressive season March 10 with a down-to-the-wire, two point loss to Lamar Community College in the Region IX, Division I finals. It was only the second time in NPCC history that the college has made the finals of the Region IX tournament.

Leading the team was Eugene Bain, a 6’5” sophomore from New Providence, Bahamas. Bain’s accomplishments with the Knights include shattering a 31-year-old school record with a total of 634 career rebounds. The old record was 573 rebounds set by John Arnold in 1966-68.

He also tied the record of former NPCC Knights Lemont Daniel and Mike Schroer, with 125 offensive rebounds in one season and finished his career in 11th place on NPCC’s all-time scoring ladder with 999 points. Additionally, Bain finished in 10th place nationally in Individual Rebounding (371: 11.2 avg.) by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

Bain was unanimously named Most Valuable Player to the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference (NCCAC) Team. He was also named Most Outstanding Player on the All-Region IX, Division I Team.

Joseph Ragland, a 6’0” freshman from Springfield, Mass., also contributed heavily to the team’s success on the court this season. Ragland made 85.7 percent of his Free Throws, earning him sixth place in the NJCAA rankings. He also ranked 26th nationally in Individual Scoring, averaging 20.5 points per game, and 36th nationally for Individual 3-point Shooting, with a 44.9 percent average.

Ragland was also named to the NCCAC All-Conference First Team and was an At-Large selection for the All-Region IX Team.

Chase Grabau, a 6’4” freshman from Louisville, Colo., also had a remarkable season and earned Honorable Mention honors on the NCCAC All-Conference Team.

NPCC Knights Coach Kevin O’Connor was named Coach of the Year for the NCCAC, as well as being selected the Region IX Coach of the Year.