Your future, our focus
BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune
The Northwest College men’s basketball team continued its strong Region IX play last weekend — defeating Eastern Wyoming at home 91-73 on Thursday before edging Western Wyoming 64-63 on the road Saturday.
NORTHWEST 91, EASTERN WYOMING 73
Returning back home the Trappers opened up the weekend against Eastern Wyoming (6-22 overall, 1-7 Region IX North) on Thursday.
The two teams battled back and forth early, before Northwest pulled ahead just over four minutes into the game after a Davion McAdam 3-pointer made it 11-9.
Northwest then moved out of the break, forcing the Lancers into difficult shots and turnovers to help push the pace.
“I thought we did a good job of pushing the ball and getting in transition,” coach Andy Ward said.
Northwest quickly extended the lead out to eight before the midway point of the half.
A small run allowed the Lancers to get back into the contest, but Northwest regained its footing and pushed the lead to double digits multiple times.
Eastern Wyoming cut the lead to seven, but a jumper by McAdam at the buzzer gave Northwest a 38-29 lead at the half.
Starting the second half the Trappers attempted to push the lead to double digits, but the Lancers continued to cut into the lead and keep the game from getting out of hand.
Northwest finally broke away, extending the lead out to as many as 20 with five minutes left in the game.
“I thought we were pretty solid for the most part defensively,” Ward said. “The guys did a great job of attacking the paint when we didn’t have anything in transition.”
The Trappers were able to put away the game, and finished with a 91-73 victory over the Lancers.
McAdam finished with 26 points, alongside David Ayala with 14 and Will Hemme with 12 as the other Trappers in double figures.
NORTHWEST 64, WESTERN WYOMING 63
Heading back out on the road Saturday, the Trappers made their way to Rock Springs — taking on Western Wyoming (15-12 overall, 2-5 Region IX North).
Northwest came out scoring strong early, jumping out to a quick 9-2 lead over the first 2:30 minutes.
Western responded with a run of its own, going on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 12-9 lead with just over 13 minutes remaining in the half — forcing a timeout from Ward.
The Trappers responded out of the break, hitting three straight 3-pointers from Ayala, Hemme and McAdam to take back the lead and extend it to six points.
Northwest continued to keep the lead between six and eight points over the next seven minutes and led 30-22 with just under four minutes left in the half.
Western cut into the lead and made it a five point game, with Northwest leading 32-27 at the half.
“We didn’t play the end of the half as well as we needed to,” Ward said. “We had the ball with the shot clock off and got in a hurry, and they got a few more possessions off of turnovers … We talked about needing to take that last shot of the half, where we either go in up eight or more.”
In the first two minutes of the second half the Mustangs went on a small run, tying the game at 34.
Western regained the lead 38-36, before Mack Page finished off a lob to start a scoring run for the Trappers.
That play sparked an 18-3 outburst by Northwest, capped off by a Kolter Merritt basket — helping build the lead to double digits up 54-41 with 10 minutes to play.
Western chipped away at the lead over the next eight minutes, bringing the game within just two possessions down 63-59 with just over two minutes remaining.
The lead continued to get cut, making it a one possession game 63-61 with just over a minute on the clock.
McAdam was fouled on the next drive and went 1-2 at the free throw line to extend the lead back out to three points.
Western cut the lead to one on a fadeaway during the next drive, and Northwest had to survive the comeback with 40 seconds left.
Northwest got a shot at the end of the shot clock, but a Yannis Nlend layup missed.
Fortunately for the Trappers, Western was called as the last touch, giving Northwest the ball with no shot clock and 13 seconds.
Out of a timeout McAdam opted to take a shot believing he was fouled, but the shot missed and gave Western the ball with five seconds.
Another timeout was taken and Western drew up one final play with a chance to win it.
A game-winning 3-pointer came up short and a putback attempt that was deemed too late also bounced out — allowing Northwest to escape with a 64-63 victory.
“I thought for the most part we hung in there, it’s a tough place to play,” Ward said. “Credit to our guys we got that last defensive stop and they had a tough shot at a game winner.”
McAdam finished with 26 points along with Page as the other Trapper in double digits with 13.
REGULAR SEASON WRAPS UP
Northwest will wrap up its regular season play this week, kicking off three games in five days on the road in Cheyenne against Laramie County Community College (14-11 overall, 4-4 Region IX North) at 7:30 p.m.
“I always tell the guys it’s a big game because it’s our next one,” Ward said. “We are going to focus on LCCC, we beat them here and going on the road is more difficult. It comes down to the same old things, we have to take care of the ball and rebound the ball.”
A quick turnaround will have the Trappers playing again on Friday, heading to Riverton to take on Central Wyoming (16-11 overall, 3-5 Region IX North) at 7:30 p.m.
The Trappers will end their regular season at home on Monday, taking on Western Wyoming at 6 p.m. for sophomore night.
Northwest currently sits at No. 2 in the Region IX North standings, and can lock up a first round bye without needing tiebreakers with one victory in its final three games.
There are multiple scenarios where the Trappers can lock up the No. 1 seed and host the Region IX tournament, but they will need to win all three games combined with a Casper College loss to guarantee the rights to host the tournament in two weeks.
If the Trappers lose all three games, they currently hold the tiebreaker over LCCC due to a victory over Casper College whereas LCCC does not have a victory. This is due to the fourth tie breaking procedure in the Region IX handbook stating that it will go to “head to head vs all teams in descending order beginning with the top seed(s).”
NORTHWEST 91, EASTERN WYOMING 73
Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()
Points — Davion McAdam 26, David Ayala 14, Will Hemme 12, Juan Pablo Camargo 9, Mack Page 7, Kolter Merritt 7, Antwon Logan 7, Milton Rodriguez Santana 4, Andre Loigu 3, Yannice Nlend 2
Rebounds — Kolter Merritt 6 (1), Davion McAdam 5 (1), Juan Pablo Camargo 5 (2), Mack Page 4 (2), Antwon Logan 4 (2), David Ayala 3, Christian Adun 2 (1), Will Hemme 2, Yannice Nlend 1, Brash Emery 1
Assists — Andre Loigu 5, Will Hemme 3, David Ayala 2, Yannice Nlend 2, Mack Page 2, Juan Pablo Camargo 2, Antwon Logan 2, Davion McAdam 1, Brash Emery 1
Steals — Yannice Nlend 2, Will Hemme 2, Andre Loigu 1, Brash Emery 1, Mack Page 1, Antwon Logan 1
Blocks — Kolter Merritt 1
NORTHWEST 64, WESTERN WYOMING 63
Points — Davion McAdam 26, Mack Page 13, David Ayala 5, Juan Pablo Camargo 4, Yannice Nlend 4, Kolter Merritt 4, Will Hemme 3, Brash Emery 3, Andre Loigu 2
Rebounds — Yannice Nlend 9 (1), Davion McAdam 7, Mack Page 7 (3), Kolter Merritt 3, Juan Pablo Camargo 2 (2), Andre Loigu 1, David Ayala 1
Assists — Yannice Nlend 2, Davion McAdam 1
Steals — Yannice Nlend 3, David Ayala 2
Blocks — Mack Page 2