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Trappers End Regular Season With 13 Straight Victories
After seven straight double-digit wins, the Northwest College men’s basketball team has made its previous three affairs a little more tense.
But tense is OK if you keep winning.
The Trappers rallied from a two-point halftime deficit to steal an 84-77 regular season-ending victory Saturday at Region IX North foe Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs.
NWC (26-4, 13- 1) has won 13 straight games, all in the North, and its 26 wins this season are tied for second most in program history. The Trappers are also in position to host the eight advancing teams for the Region IX Tournament for the first time ever.
Seeded No. 1 in the North region and ranked 15th in the country, the Trappers will host eighth-seeded Little Big Horn College (3-23, 0-14) in a tournament play-in game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The winner of that contest moves on to the quarterfinal round made up of four North and four South teams, which will take place along with the semifinal and championships games should the Trappers defeat Little Big Horn. Barring a major upset, NWC will play again at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 5.
“We did have some bigger wins weeks ago, but I think teams are getting better. We’re at the end of the year,” NWC head coach Brian Erickson said. “We’re going to play Little Big Horn this weekend and they’re going to be a lot better than they were the first time.”
Against Western Wyoming, NWC saw an improved Mustangs squad.
The Trappers blew out Western 87-61 in Powell on Feb. 12, but the Mustangs came out swinging early at home Saturday, and produced a 38-36 halftime lead.
“In the first half, we didn’t do a great job attacking them, and we weren’t moving all that well,” Erickson said. “In the second half, we came out a little better on the defensive end, and we made some good adjustments when they went to a zone defense.”
Erickson said his team’s ability to crack the Western zone was a big difference.
“They were extending their zone so much that we started setting screens on their two guards to make other guys step up, and we made them make a decision of ‘Stay on my man or leave him.’”
The disruption helped NWC just enough, as it outscored Western 48-39 over the final 20 minutes of play to secure the win. The Trappers produced enough offense despite star forward and big man Chris Boucher playing just 25 minutes before fouling out. In his absence, reserve Tyler Chandler stepped up with 12 points in 21 minutes. Sophomore Nicky Desilien paced NWC with 18 points (six assists), followed by 15 from sophomore EJ Hubbard and 13 from sophomore Colin May. Western’s Isaiah Parros led all scorers with 22 points.