Sometimes a win doesn't quite feel like a win.

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Garden City Community College\'s Derrick Tarvin (11) knocks the ball away from North Platte\'s Andrew Hanson at midcourt Thursday during an opening round men\'s game in the Pepsi Classic at Perryman Athletic Complex.

Thursday night, after a 78-73 win over North Platte Community College in its home opener at the Pepsi Classic, Garden City Community College had a victory, but not clarity.

"We just turned the ball over 29 times," said Garden City coach Kris Baumann. "To a team that didn't even press us. I don't think I've ever even heard of a team that turned the ball over that much and still won."

The Broncbusters did turn the ball over 29 times, but did enough things right to improve to 3-1 on the season.

"We've got to start playing better, and by better I mean smarter," Baumann said. "We make some poor, poor decisions."

Corey Claitt led Garden City with 20 points and seven rebounds in the win, Tyrone Flemming added 11 points, and Derrick Tarvin scored a career-high 11 points.

Freshman Chris Roquemore made his Broncbuster debut a memorable one, with nine points and five rebounds, including a monster follow dunk in the first half that had Perryman Athletic Complex abuzz.

"Even though Roq came off the bench, he helped us tonight," Flemming said. "You can see when he gets in what he can do on offense and blocking shots."

Garden City started off the game with an 11-0 run but after the flurry of Broncbuster points, North Platte went on a 16-0 run of its own to take the lead. Garden City clawed back to tie the score at 26-26 on a Nic White offensive rebound and putback with 5:08 to play in the first half, and that's when Tarvin took over.

The 6-foot-6 sophomore scored 10 points in the final five minutes, including two 3-pointers, and hit a three as time expired in the first half for a 40-34 lead.

"My role is to come in and hit open shots," Tarvin said. "Guys found me in the right spots tonight. Coach always talks about playing unselfish basketball and I think that's what happened, guys were looking for me."

In the second half, Garden City stretched its lead to as much as 15 points at 64-49 before North Platte made a run to cut the lead to 73-67. Garden City made three of six free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.

"I feel like as a team, when we get a lead, we put it in cruise control," Flemming said. "Playing 20 out of 40 minutes isn't going to get us wins."

Garden City continues play at the Pepsi Classic tonight at 8 p.m., taking on Laramie County Community College.

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Garden City 78, North Platte 73

North Platte (0-1, 0-0): Odugbela 8-16 3-6 20, Bain 7-13 2-5 17, Hanson 5-10 2-2 13, Parker 4-8 4-5 12, Newbill 3-7 1-4 7, Brandl 1-6 0-0 3, Spivey 0-1, 1-2 1, Taylor 0-2 0-2 0, Williams 0-1 0-2 0, Rubin 0-1 0-0 0, Nguindejl 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 28-65 13-29 73.

Garden City (3-1, 0-1): Claitt 8-17 0-0 20, Tarvin 4-5 1-2 11, Flemming 5-11 1-3 11, Roquemore 4-8 1-2 9, White 3-5 1-2 7, Link 3-3 1-3 7, Ottley 3-6 0-0 6, Ragan 2-4 0-0 5, Brown 1-2 0-3 2, Young 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 33-64 5-15 78. Totals 28-64 9-13 70.

Halftime--Garden City 40-34. 3-Point Goals--North Platte 4-10 (Brandl 1-4, Odugbela 1-2, Hanson 1-1, Bain 1-1, Parker 0-1, Taylor 0-1), Garden City 7-17 (Claitt 4-9, Tarvin 2-3, Ragan 1-1, Young 0-2, Roquemore 0-1, Flemming 0-1). Fouled Out--Garden City, Link. North Platte, Parker. Rebounds--North Platte 27 (Parker 8), Garden City 38 (Claitt 7). Assists--North Platte 20 (Williams 3), Garden City 11 (White 4). Total Fouls--North Platte 15, Garden City 23.