Your future, our focus
Bains Scores 17, Londole Records Double-Double
Dawson Community College made it interesting late, but the Northwest College men’s basketball team held on to beat the visiting Buccaneers 70-67 Saturday at Cabre Gym.
In a game that saw eight ties and three lead changes, both teams showed a bit of post-holiday rust on offense. As the game wore on, however, shots began to fall as each team found its rhythm.
“Coming off 16 days off is tough,” said NWC head coach Brian Erickson. “We tried to be as sharp as we could. We had our moments. We started off not in sync — our offense was pretty stagnant, not moving. You work so hard to get to a point, and then you don’t do it for a couple of weeks; it takes a little bit to get back. It wasn’t pretty by any means, but the team came out and got the win.”
The game went back and forth in the opening frame. After the Bucs took a two-point lead midway through the first half, the Trappers (11-3) put together a run to eventually retake the lead and go into the locker room with a 34-26 advantage. Blake Hinze provided the early spark for NWC, and the team relied on its defense and a 5-for-13 effort from beyond the arc to set the tone heading into the second half.
“Defensively, I think we played well,” Erickson said.
The coach said the team had a goal of making seven 3-stops — that is, preventing Dawson from scoring on three consecutive possessions — and ended up doing that eight times.
“We felt pretty good keeping them down in the 60s, and I think that’s what won the game for us,” Erickson said.
Erickson added that the Trapper offense “wasn’t quite there — field goal percentage, free throws in the first half, a lot of different things — but we’ll be fine.”
In the second half, the Trappers were led by the solid play of Sukhjot Bains and Levi Londole, as they pushed NWC’s lead to 13. But with under seven minutes to play, and trailing 60-47, the Bucs mounted their comeback. They were sparked by a pair of 3 pointers from Ryan Strong, the second of which brought DCC within three points. DCC’s comeback bid fell short though, as NWC was able to hold on as the clock expired. Finishing close games has been a struggle for the Trappers this season, so to win in this fashion was especially gratifying for the team.
“We’ve got to keep working on late-game situations like today,” Bains said. “Making our free throws and handling the pressure. We’ve struggled with that, so this felt good.”
Northwest finished the game with 10 3-pointers and out-rebounded the Bucs 43-34 (including 15-6 on the offensive end). Bains led the way with 17 points and seven boards; Londole posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
“We started out a little slow, a little rusty, but we got into a groove,” Bains said. “We made some runs and were playing pretty well until the end; we kind of slowed down a little bit. We came out with a win though, so that’s what counts.”
Hinze chipped in 11 points to go along with six steals and six rebounds, five of the boards coming at the defensive end of the floor. He also dished off three assists.
“I felt we could have gotten the ball inside a lot more,” Erickson said. “That was kind of our goal in the second half. We were OK at it. Fifteen offensive rebounds was big for us, and we shot well from 3-point range.”
NWC shot 58 percent on free throws, 41 percent on 3-point shots and 51 percent from the field, compared to DCC’s 59 percent on free throws, 42 percent on 3-point shots and 37 percent from the field.
The turnover battle was a push, with NWC and DCC both committing 19 turnovers. Erickson was pleased with the win, but said there are always things to work on, especially with the start of region play this week.
“The things we really need to try and focus on going into the next few days is just getting back from that long break,” Erickson said. “We’ve talked about what we need to be in two months and the steps we need to take to get there. Defensively, we have to stop penetration a lot more. But I thought we did a pretty good job of that today. Offensively, we just need to start seeing shots a little more. We tend to get a little robotic, but we’ll find our groove.”
The men were set to face Casper College in Casper Wednesday, but snow prompted a rescheduling for 7 p.m. today (Thursday). They return home on Saturday against Gillette College at 4 p.m.
The Trappers then play at Little Big Horn College Wednesday, Jan. 18.