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Can Climb To Third Place With Home Wins This Weekend
The Northwest College men’s basketball team won a pair of games last week to even their Region IX record at 2-2.
The Trappers started their conference schedule with consecutive losses to Casper and Gillette, but rebounded with a 105-55 victory against Little Big Horn on Jan. 13, and an 82-75 win at Miles City on Saturday.
“The biggest thing is getting a road win at Miles, it’s one of the toughest places to play,” NWC head coach Brian Erickson said.
At the moment, Northwest sits in fourth place in the Region IX North Division, behind Gillette (4-0), Casper (3-1) and Western Wyoming (3-1).
The Trappers play Western at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in Powell, and host Central Wyoming at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
“We got two home games this week and can hopefully move in the right direction,” Erickson said. “We really did make some strides last week.”
Freshman Grantham Gillard emerged as Northwest’s leading scorer over the weekend. The 6-3 guard from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, set his career high points in back-to-back games with 24 points against Little Big Horn and 28 against Miles City, Montana. He also had six and eight rebounds in each game, respectively.
Erickson said he was pleased to see Gillard succeed in a bigger role.
“We recruited him because he was that type of player all through high school,” Erickson said.
Gillard has four 20-point games this season, and now leads the team with 13.6 points per game. His spike in scoring came behind a stellar performance from the 3-point line, where he was 11-of-20 (55 percent) over the two-game stretch. He shot 18-for-29 (62 percent) from the field overall.
Erickson said a strong inside-out game helped the Trappers go 9-for-20 on threes.
“Most of (Gillard’s) threes were because of that,” Erickson said. “We’re starting to pass up those other ones with a hand in your face.”
Gillard was one of six Trappers to score in double figures against Little Big Horn.
Freshmen Levi Londole and Sukhjot Bains each recorded double-doubles against the Rams.
Londole had 17 points and 12 rebounds while Bains scored 12 points and secured 13 boards. Joel Maumba added 16 points and seven boards, sophomore Jordon Rood had 13 points and four rebounds and Levi Petersen added 10 points and two boards.
As a team, the Trappers shot 59.1 percent from the floor and 52.2 percent on 3-pointers. The Rams shot just 29.8 percent overall and 15.8 percent on threes.
The scoring was less evenly distributed in the seven-point win at Miles City (1-2).
Behind Gillard’s 28 was 19 points and 10 rebounds from Maumba, eight points from Rood and seven points and seven boards
from Bains.
Maumba grabbed 10 rebounds for another Northwest double-double.
Maumba and Bains, both freshmen, are rounding into form, Erickson said.
“Both those guys are starting to take it to that next level and click,” Erickson said.
The Trappers and Pioneers were knotted at the half, 36-36, but a 46-point second half was enough for Northwest to pull out the victory.
Northwest dominated inside, scoring 30 points in the paint to Miles City’s 16.
The Trappers shot 44.4 percent as a team and were 9-for-20 (45 percent) from behind the 3-point line. Miles City was held to just 34.2 percent shooting and 35.3 percent on threes.
The Pioneers shot a better free throw percentage (68.4) than the Trappers, but Northwest made just two fewer foul shots (17) than Miles City attempted (19).
Clint Bateman scored seven points and had four assists, while Jordy Telfort scored five points in his return from injury. Telfort’s injury had kept him out since mid-November.
“He still needs to get his strength back, get his lungs and all that,” Erickson said. “He gave us some great minutes, thought he did a good job for us.”
Erickson said he’s not to the point of obsessing over the standings yet, but wants the Trappers to give themselves a chance to play in Powell at the start of the postseason.
“We got two home games this week and can hopefully move in the right direction,” he said. “It’s going to be tough, we have two losses, and with the way Gillette’s playing ... they haven’t lost. They’re going to be tough to catch. I’m not so worried where we end up. You just want to finish in the top four to play that first round playoff game at home.”
Sophomore guard Garrison Gillard did not dress for Northwest’s home game against the Rams and did not travel with the team to Miles due to a coach’s decision, Erickson said. He should return for Friday’s contest against Western.
“I think he’ll be back this week, we’re planning on suiting him up,” Erickson said.
With Garrison Gillard and Jordy Telfort back, the Trappers will be as close to full strength as they’ve been all season. Erickson said sophomore forward Dan Milota should return in a few weeks.
“We lost a couple games but we haven’t had everybody,” Erickson said.