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The Cabre Gym crowd could almost hear things falling into place.
Midway through the first half, after three games-plus of playing losing basketball, the Northwest College men’s basketball team almost tangibly and spontaneously seemed to assimilate all of coach Brian Erickson’s teachings.
Last Friday night, after growing pains so painful they left bruises, the Trappers ended up running away from the Bismarck State Mystics, 88-63, for their first win of the season.
And a day later in the First Bank of Wyoming Shootout Northwest knocked off Rexburg United of Idaho, 68-56.
“It was definitely revenge,” said Trapper guard Jonathan Koud of trouncing the Mystics, who topped Northwest 73-53 in the opening game of the season Nov. 4. “We wanted to beat them.”
It might be said the Trappers needed to beat the Mystics after three straight losses as a new group of players explored their roles.
They could also feel this coming.
“We said we would get them,” said Northwest center Damon Leach, whose 13 points and 10 rebounds ensured that would happen.
Still, the result was not immediately apparent. Bismarck, relying heavily on the three-point shot, romped to a 34-21 lead in the game’s first 11-plus minutes.
This was an oh-no start that kept the healthy crowd of several hundred subdued, until Erickson handed the keys to the car to Koud. Feeling ill, Koud missed practice the day before, so he sat out the game’s beginning minutes.
Koud’s appearance speeded up the tempo for the Trappers. His slashing style penetrated the Mystics’ defense and combined with a more aggressive Northwest defense, arms waving like windmills in front of Bismarck’s long-range shooters, altered the landscape.
As Koud, a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard from Montreal, scored 15 of the Trappers’ next 19 points (20 in all), Northwest pushed to a 43-39 halftime lead.
“Coach told me I’d have open lanes,” Koud said.
The second half was a blowout. The Trapper lead grew to as many as 26 points twice before the Mystics put together a minor flurry before slipping back again.
rom game’s start, sophomore forward Sukhjot Bains was a rock, inside the paint and on the perimeter, collecting a game-high 22 points and 15 rebounds.
After being burned by the outside shot, Bains said clamping down on defense changed the momentum for Northwest.
“We got up to their shooters,” he said. “The crowd really helped us. Hopefully, this helps get us on the right track.”
It seemed to do just that with the second win coming 24 hours later.
Against Rexburg the Trappers led 41-32 at the half and stayed ahead. Power forward Levi Londale and Koud each scored 15 points and Londale added 7 rebounds.
The defense held Rexburg to 26.8 percent shooting.
As the Trappers prepare for a free-admission home game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, at Cody High against Game Gear, an All-Star team from Utah, Erickson is seeing an improvement in chemistry.
“It was a great win for us,” Erickson said of the Bismarck game. “Now we know what it takes to win. It’s just guys learning how to play with each other.”
(Lew Freedman can be reached at lew@codyenterprise.com.)