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Morgon’s Block Saves Trappers On Saturday
For all of its offensive prowess, the Northwest College men’s basketball team learned an important lesson on Friday: sometimes all it takes is a little defense.
The Trappers put that lesson in motion on Saturday.
After dropping a 134-115 decision to Indian Hills Community College on Friday, NWC used a last-second defensive stop to pull out a 92-91 victory over Southwest Illinois College on Saturday.
The Trappers (13-3) started the second half of their season at the Indian Hills Tournament in Ottumwa, Iowa, over the weekend, but will open Region IX play with a home matchup at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Sheridan. Gillette will then travel to Powell to face the Trappers on Saturday for a 5 p.m. Region IX contest.
But first, NWC got a pair of much-needed warmups following three weeks away from the court. Against NJCAA Division I’s No. 6-ranked Indian Hills, the time off showed for the Trappers.
NWC shot a solid 51 percent against the Falcons’ defense, but sent the hosts to the free throw lines 56 times (39 makes) while committing 24 turnovers. The Trappers trailed 62-43 at the half.
NWC head coach Brian Erickson said the game plan was to extend offensive possessions in order to run the clock, but added his team failed to execute.
“We went into with the game plan of trying to run a little more clock and make Indian Hills play defense, but we just didn’t do a great job of that,” Erickson said. “We didn’t protect the ball and we gave them extra opportunities, so that sort of canceled out our plan.”
The Trappers turned up their offense after halftime, scoring a robust 72 points, but Indian Hills matched that effort to hang on for the blowout win.
Seven Falcons scored in double figures. NWC received a scoring outburst from sophomore Nicky Desilien, who drained 46 points. Daryle Morgan added 17, Chris Boucher had 14 and Tyler Chandler chipped in 12.
Despite the tough loss, Erickson was optimistic.
“At the end of the day, if it wasn’t our first day back, if we were on a neutral court with different officials, different fans, we could compete with a top team in nation,” he said.
NORTHWEST COLLEGE 92, SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS COLLEGE 91
Erickson said team spirits were down Saturday following a lost opportunity to knock off a top-10 team.
“After we came out of that Friday night (loss), I could tell the guys were a little down on themselves and a little frustrated,” Erickson said. “Weren’t inspired enough on the court.”
That led to what Erickson called a “back-and-forth” ballgame. NWC was without star sophomore forward Boucher (see related story), but managed to supplement enough offense behind another strong performance from Desilien (23 points) and 22 from EJ Hubbard to go with eight rebounds and five assists.
Still, it was the defense that put the Trappers back in the win column.
After Southwest took a 91-89 lead on a free throw with 20 seconds remaining, Morgan found sophomore Colin May open in the corner. May sank a go-ahead 3-pointer without hesitation, and with seven seconds remaining, SIC moved down court only to have its last-second shot blocked by Morgan to seal the NWC win.
May sidestepped praise for his game-winning trey, and instead passed the credit to his teammates. May, Morgan (five assists) and Ammar Rehman scored 13 points each.
“I don’t think of myself as the game winner at all. Playing a 40-minute game there are so many factors that go into winning a game,” May said. “With Chris out we had to have people step up and score the ball, and Nicky and EJ did that for us. They really carried our team offensively throughout the entire game, and so did DJ, who blocked their team’s last-second shot attempt. It mainly came down to we had to get stops on defense to win the game. Everybody stepped up.”
Erickson and the Trappers now turn their attention to the weekend, when two tough opponents will visit Cabre Gym.
“There’s no better way to start [region play] than with two great teams in our region, especially at home,” Erickson said. “And with Sheridan, it has always been a great rivalry for Northwest. Hopefully we can make adjustments this week and get back to our old selves.”