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Central, Sheridan Take Narrow Wins From NWC
This was not the start to Region IX North play that Northwest College men’s basketball coach Brian Erickson had in mind. The Trappers dropped a pair of narrow games last week, falling 61-59 at home to Central Wyoming, then losing 71-68 on the road at Sheridan on Saturday.
The loss to Central could sting for a considerable period of time.
“We were ahead by 15 at halftime,” Erickson said. “We really played well that first half.”
For the first 20 minutes, the Trappers definitely looked like they, not Central, should have been the team receiving votes in the latest NJCAA men’s basketball rankings. Northwest shot 61.5 percent from the floor in the first half and owned a 19-9 advantage on the rebounding glass. The Trappers closed the first half on a 20-8 run to extend their lead to 37-22 at intermission.
It took Central just 13 minutes of the second half to erase that edge.
“They came out in a zone the second half and it put us on our heels,” said Erickson. “We were playing scared for a while and not really attacking like we needed to. As things kept going, we started to attack more, but we weren’t making very good decisions and that led to some frustration at the defensive end of the floor.”
Still, Central did not take its first lead of the game until just over four minutes remained. The Trappers remained close, but found themselves in the almost impossible situation of shooting a one-and-one opportunity with 0.2 seconds remaining and Central Wyoming ahead by three points.
Northwest was able to convert the first free throw and Guilherme Carabagiale successfully got a high bounce off the rim as he intentionally missed the second shot, but the Trappers were unable to tip the rebound in the direction of the hoop.
After a blazing first half shooting the basketball, the Trappers connected for just 33 percent in the second half. More telling, the team finished with 26 turnovers.
“When you have that many turnovers and lose by two, it just kills you,” said Erickson. “Any one possession could have changed the outcome.”
Jeffrey Solarin finished with 22 points, all but two of which came in the first half. Carabagiale added 11 points.
In Saturday’s game, the Trappers again faced a zone defense and found a new set of struggles.
“We did a much better job attacking it, but we just could not get a shot to fall for us,” said Erickson. “We shot 29 percent from the floor for the game.”
Sheridan built a 38-30 lead at halftime. That gap grew to as many as 17 points in the second half before the Trappers made a late run.
“We started fouling at about the five minute mark,” said Erickson. “If we didn’t get a steal, we had certain guys that we wanted to foul. We went about our business of trying to get two points on offense and they struggled shooting free throws.”
The strategy paid off as Northwest climbed back to within three points and twice had the opportunity to send the game to overtime with a late 3-point basket, but came away empty on both chances.
“When you dig yourself a 17-point hole, it’s very difficult to come back from,” said Erickson. “I’m proud of the guys for not giving up and continuing to fight the whole game.”
The Trappers travel to Dawson tonight (Tuesday) for their next basketball action.
C. Wyoming 61, Northwest 59
J. Solarin 22, Beehler 3, Coleman 7, Newsom 1, de Andrade 2, Carabagiale 11, Gordon 2, G. Solarin 8, Uzonwanne 3.
Sheridan 71, Northwest 68
Beehler 3, Carabagiale 1, Coleman 13, de Andrade 2, Gordon 2, Newsom 12, Rech 2, G. Solarin 11, J. Solarin 13, Uzonwanne 9.