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‘We Almost Had ‘Em’
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — For possibly the first time all season, the Northwest College men’s basketball team was locked in a heavyweight slugfest.
And the finish came as close to a split decision as one might expect in a battle between two of NJCAA’s best teams.
After being challenged for 40 minutes for the first time in nearly a month, seventh-seeded (and 15th-ranked) NWC finally succumbed to a final blow from No. 2-seeded and eventual national champion Northwest Florida State College, dropping a 94-92 heartbreaker to the Raiders in the quarterfinal round of the NJCAA Division I Men’s National Basketball Championship on Thursday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kan.
The game featured 21 lead changes and 14 ties, as it took the game’s final 75 seconds to decide a winner.
“We almost had ’em,” Northwest College head coach Brian Erickson said.
Almost.
The Trappers and Northwest Florida battled to a 90-90 tie with 1:15 left in the game when NWC sophomore Chris Boucher was fouled and went to the line to shoot one, and possibly two free throws. But he missed the front end of a one-and-one and the Raiders (31-2) secured the rebound.
Northwest Florida’s Xavier Moon proceeded to push his team ahead with a 3-pointer at the one-minute mark, but NWC sophomore Nicky Desilien responded with two free throws to make it a one-point game after drawing a foul with 41.4 seconds left.
The Raiders’ Jordan Capps was later fouled, but sank just one of two free throws to give NWC (31-5) possession facing a two-point hole with 10.2 second to go.
Leading the Trappers in points for the second straight game, Desilien naturally had the ball in his hands as NWC marched down the court in the waning seconds. The Raiders attempted to trap the guard near half court, and as Desilien tried to dribble through a wave of defenders, he was tripped up, lost the ball and Northwest Florida recovered it to escape with the victory.
Desilien, his teammates and NWC coaches were waiting for a foul call from officials, but were not awarded one. Desilien said while he believes he was fouled, that one no-call didn’t decide the game.
“They didn’t call that foul, but we can’t put it on that last possession,” Desilien said after posting a game-high 28 points and 10 assists. “I think we could have done a lot of things better throughout the game to put us in a better position.”
Against NJCAA Division I’s fifth-ranked team, the Trappers seemed to do all they could against a squad that looked more athletic and physically imposing as the game unfolded before a packed house.
Desilien started the scoring with a layup, but Northwest Florida’s Benji Bell answered with a 3-pointer that made it 3-2 early, and the blow-for-blow battle had commenced.
Neither team led by more than five until Treshaad Williams scored on a layup to make it 39-32 in favor of the Raiders. That lead peaked at eight — the largest advantage for either team — when Moon broke away in transition for a dunk.
But NWC responded with a first-half-ending 13-4 run, started by two free throws from sophomore Daryle Morgan. Freshman Ammar Rehman added a pair of free throws, Desilien added two more after Raiders coach Steve DeMeo was tagged with a technical foul, and scored five straight points following the technical before Morgan knocked down two more free buckets.
The shift of momentum had NWC ahead 49-48 at the half.
“This team is crazy ... nobody thought we were going to be [at the national tournament],” Boucher said. “And here we are and we fought until the end. [Northwest Florida] was the No. 2 seed and we still gave them work and gave them everything we had.”
The Trappers continued fighting after the break, extending their lead to three after Morgan slammed home an assist from Desilien. But Bell and Keith Charleston netted baskets to put the Raiders ahead by one once more, and the back-and-forth action resumed.
The two teams went punch-for- punch until Northwest Florida used a 7-0 run to take its biggest lead of the second half at 88-82 with less than five minutes to play.
“I was going to call a timeout ... I don’t know why I didn’t,” Erickson said of wanting to stall the Raiders’ momentum. “I guess I’m glad I didn’t now.”
Erickson was “glad” because Morgan answered with a 3-pointer on which he was fouled in the corner. He converted the ensuing free throw, and the Trappers were back within two. After a defensive stop, Morgan then laid in an assist from sophomore EJ Hubbard and the game was tied once again. Desilien broke the tie with a fade-away jumper underneath the basket, but that would be NWC’s last lead.
Bell eventually tied it with a layup before the tense final minute.
Five players scored in double figures for the Raiders, led by 21 from Bell. Northwest Florida shot 43 percent from the floor (37 of 86) and won the rebound battle 53-38.
NWC countered with 43.5 percent shooting (27 of 62) and stayed in the game thanks to 29 made free throws in 38 attempts. Boucher finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Morgan added 21 points.
The game experienced an odd shift in foul calls after Northwest Florida was called for 24 first-half violations. Four Raiders entered the break with three or more fouls, while NWC was in good shape with just eight team fouls. But in the second half, the tables turned, as the Raiders picked up just eight fouls the rest of the way while NWC was called for 11.
Boucher drew his third infraction five minutes into the second half, and was sent to the bench. When he returned, he picked up his fourth with 10 minutes to go and did not return to the court until nearly five minutes remained.
Erickson and Boucher were both upset with the discrepancy.
“I feel like, at this level, there has to be more consistency from the officials,” Erickson said. “You have to call both halves the same way, and I almost felt like the officials were trying to make up for all of the fouls they called on [Northwest Florida] in the first half.”
Boucher felt as though a few of his fouls were questionable, and said his bench time hurt the team.
“I felt like there was a timing thing ... the refs seemed like they were timing my fouls and decided how much I was going to play in that second half,” Boucher said. “So I had to sit there and cheer on my team, but I’m looking at the game thinking ‘Man, I could’ve blocked that shot, I could’ve gotten that rebound,’ but there was nothing I could do.”
Northwest’s 31-5 record was one win short of tying the school record, set in 1967 when the Trappers who went 32-4 and finished fourth nationally.
Erickson will now say goodbye to seven sophomores, including his entire starting lineup, and expressed sadness Thursday night.
“I guess there’s a bit of somberness, I guess sadness ... yeah, we’re disappointed that we lost ... but I’m more sad over the fact that I won’t get to coach these guys and watch them compete again,” Erickson said. “I almost want them to put on their jerseys and scrimmage against each other [Friday]. Ending the season knowing this was my last time with these guys, that part of the equation is hard.”
NORTHWEST 96, CAPE FEAR 85
The Trappers enjoyed a first-round bye, and saw their first action on March 18 when they took on 23rd-seeded Cape Fear Community College. The Sea Devils were fresh off a shocking win over No. 10 John A. Logan on day one of the tournament, but were denied their second straight upset when NWC took the court.
The Trappers used strong defense and scoring from Desilien to build an early 15-4 cushion, and rode that momentum to a 45- 31 halftime lead.
Desilien had eight points during his team’s game-opening run, and finished with a team-high 30 and eight assists.
Cape Fear attempted to fight back in the second half, and were well on their way thanks to a TJ Evans scoring barrage. Evans scored 18 of his 20 points after the break, including 12 straight early in the second half as the Sea Devils cut their deficit to 56 47.
A 19-10 run from NWC put it back in control at 83-67, but Cape Fear had a run of its own left, this one being a 12-3 move that left the Sea Devils threatening at 86-81.
“We couldn’t panic, we just had to play our game,” said Morgan, who finished with 18 points.
“We weren’t nervous, but our bodies were nervous, we had the shakes,” Desilien added.
Whatever the issue was, the Trappers shook it off as Hubbard started a 10-3 spurt with a free throw, followed by a pair from Boucher. Jalen Jackson nailed a trey to pull Cape Fear within five once again, but Morgan (free throw) and Boucher (dunk) scored consecutively before Desilien made his final four free throws of the game to ice it.
Boucher erupted for 29 points, 16 rebounds and 11 blocks. Cape Fear’s Anthony Vanhook led all scorers with 31 points.
The Trappers shot 48.1 percent for the game (26 of 54), and made 38 of 48 free throws. NWC also won the rebounding battle 50-46. Hubbard had nine points and 13 rebounds.
Cape Fear shot 36.3 percent from the floor (33 of 91).