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NWC’s Winning Streak Ends at Eight
The Northwest College men’s basketball team recovered from one unsteady half.
Doing so a second time proved too much for the Trappers.
After shaking off the rust in the first half against Dawson Community College on Friday, NWC cruised to a 90-68 victory at the Dawson Community College Tournament in Glendive, Mont. In their tournament closer Saturday, the Trappers’ seven-point cushion evaporated after halftime as Williston State College outscored NWC by 19 to earn a 110-98 victory that snapped the Trappers’ eight-game winning streak.
The weekend’s action started a day after Thanksgiving, and coach Brian Erickson believes the break and holiday eating may have slowed down NWC (9-2).
“We kind of had that turkey hangover. In that first half, we didn’t look quite ourselves, but we were lucky to go into halftime with a (40-30) lead,” Erickson said. “We didn’t really have the intensity we needed to have. Luckily in the second half, we came out firing and played much better defensively.”
The Trappers outscored the hosts 50-38 over the final 20 minutes of play thanks to 56.7-percent shooting from the floor. The NWC defense held Dawson to a dismal 37 percent for the game.
Five Trappers scored in double figures, led by sophomore Nicky Desilien’s 22 points. EJ Hubbard and Colin May each scored 12, while Daryle Morgan added 11 and Chris Boucher drained 10.
Desilien, who also dished out five assists, said that strong play from Dawson surprised NWC in the first half, considering the Trappers previously earned two wins over the Buccaneers this season.
“We took Dawson a little lighter than we should have,” Desilien said. “We had a comfort zone, and when they started playing well it caught us off guard. Luckily we recovered in the second half.”
Against Williston, it was the second half that doomed the Trappers.
NWC converted 19 of its 37 first-half field goals, including six 3-pointers, and held a 49-42 lead at the break. But after shooting a robust 57 percent in the first half, the Tetons poured it on by going 20-of-31 from the floor in the second half (64.5 percent) to outscore the Trappers 68-49.
“It kind of came down to us executing on both ends. We played really well on both ends in the first half,” Erickson said. “When we executed on offense and defense, we were able to push the lead.
“But with about seven minutes left in the game, give credit to Williston, they put a lot of defensive pressure on us. We started forcing shots and missing shots. We started playing a lot more like them for about four or five minutes and we never recovered.”
The Trappers also committed 26 personal fouls, sending Williston to the free throw line 35 times (27 made) compared to just 18 trips for NWC. Foul trouble limited Boucher, NWC’s relentless rebounder and shot blocker, to less than 21 minutes for the Trappers. Both he and fellow sophomore EJ Hubbard fouled out.
“Foul trouble took a big toll on us,” said Hubbard, who scored 19 points against Williston. “We had to keep taking Chris and Nicky out as well as some of our post guys. It was getting more and more difficult to match up with Williston and they took advantage.”
Desilien led NWC again with 26 points and seven assists. Morgan followed with 21 points, Boucher had 14 and May added 12.
Saturday’s loss was the first for NWC since a Nov. 1 setback against Western Nebraska Community College that dropped the Trappers to 1-1. NWC’s two losses this season came after the Trappers held sizable leads, a fact that left Desilien shaking his head after the weekend.
“It’s tough to know that we can be so good and so bad in one game,” Desilien said. “I don’t know how it’s possible to be that good and that bad at the same time. We aren’t really that consistent sometimes. It’s something we have to live with and learn from.”