The Tigers (5-2) split their games in the Emerson Classic, beating Elgin CC on Friday night (59-54) before falling to the NJCAA Division II-ranked Pirates from Trenton, Mo., on Saturday.

North Central Missouri (5-1) scored the game’s first six points and never trailed in its fifth consecutive victory.

“We just got out-competed,” said MCC head coach Dylan Longley. “That team was good, don’t get me wrong, a lot of credit to them. They did what they were supposed to do to win, but it showed up that it was our fifth game in eight days. That reared its ugly head today.

“For us it’s things that are fixable, but we definitely need to box out and rebound and do those kind of things.”

North Central Missouri got scoring from 11 different players, while MCC went to battle with only nine active players. Starting guard Kimari Hall sat out both games in the Emerson Classic due to an undisclosed injury, but Longley expects her to be back for the Tigers’ next home game on Thursday against Carl Sandburg College.

“When an injury happens, you don’t have a ton of margin for error,” Longley said. “I think that game would have looked a lot different with her on the floor. I don’t know that we win it, but I think we probably would have been within 10. She’s a floor general for us and she calms us down. We have five or six players on our team that can score — we’ve had different leading scorers almost every game — and just having her to be able to facilitate to the right kid and take care of the ball is a big part of what we do, and it’s tough without her.”

Destiny Sao-Martinez led the Tigers on this night with 18 points, making four of her five 3-pointers in the third quarter alone. MCC trailed by 13 at halftime but needed an 8-0 run sparked by a pair of Sao-Martinez triples to get back to within 13 late in the third.

Shenell Stewart added 14 points and team-highs of 11 rebounds, five steals and three assists for MCC. Kenijae Cherry chipped in with six points and four boards.

Jessica Reeter made three of the Pirates’ eight 3-pointers to lead her team with 17 points.

The Tigers are back at home on Thursday with a 5:30 p.m. game against Carl Sandburg College.

EMERSON CLASSIC

Friday’s Scores

WOMEN

North Central Missouri 73, Iowa Lakes 56

MCC 59, Elgin 54

MEN

Iowa Lakes 77, John Wood 70

MCC 82, St. John’s Academy-DME 57

Saturday’s Games

WOMEN

Iowa Lakes 70, Elgin 52

North Central Missouri 75, MCC 46

MEN

Iowa Lakes 68, St. John’s Academy-DME 47

MCC 80, John Wood 74

North Central Missouri 68, MCC 47

NORTH CENTRAL MISSOURI (5-1) — Gladys Brown 1 0-0 3, Jessica Reeter 4 6-6 17, Oliviya Tinoco 2 0-0 6, Abbi Fountain 1 4-6 6, Jacie Morris 3 0-0 6, A’Myah Bankston 1 0-0 3, Kayanna Cranmer 1 3-4 6, Honor Mannings 2 0-3 4, Talicia Bird 1 0-0 3, Maddi Fisher 0 1-2 1, Tailer Morrison 3 2-2 8. TOTALS 22 16-26 68.

MCC (5-2) — Mia Sao-Martinez 2 0-0 5, Jalen Shaw 0 0-0 0, Abigail Gradwell 0 0-0 0, Nunu Johnson 1 1-3 3, Shenell Stewart 5 4-8 14, Ky Allen 0 1-2 1, Destiny Sao-Martinez 6 1-2 18, Kenijae Cherry 3 0-0 6, Gio Damiao 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 7-15 47.

NCMC 17 15 23 13 — 58

MCC 10 9 18 10 — 47

3-Point Goals–NCMC 8 (Reeter 3, Tinoco 2, Bankston, Cranmer, Byrd), MCC 6 (D. Sao-Martinez 5, M. Sao-Martinez). Total Fouls–NCMC 12, MCC 21. Fouled Out–none. Technical Foul–MCC bench.