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The Northwest College men’s basketball team split a pair of road games in Montana on Nov. 21 and 22. A difficult game in Glendive resulted in a 91-67 loss to Dawson Community College before the Trappers rebounded against the Rocky Mountain College JV 71-66 in Billings.
DAWSON CC 91, NORTHWEST 67A tall task presented itself for the Trappers (2-7) to start the road trip, taking on the undefeated Buccaneers (8-0).
Turnovers came early and often for Northwest, succumbing to the Dawson press; leading to an early 10-4 lead in the first three minutes for the hosts.
Dawson carried its early momentum and quickly built the lead to double digits, making it 20-9 just over five minutes later.
The Trappers were able to cut it down to single digits several times, but the hosts continued to force turnovers and create more opportunities through offensive rebounds — snagging 11 more possessions on offensive rebounds in the first half.
“It’s always going to be an uphill battle when you give up that many second shots,” coach Andy Ward said. “We turned it over (too) … it’s hard to win especially on the road when you do that.”
Dawson held a lead as large as 16 in the first half, before Northwest cut it down to 42-30 going into the break.
Out of the locker room the Buccaneers started strong, going on a 13-1 run to push the lead over 20 and giving Dawson a comfortable lead.
Northwest was unable to find its way back into the contest, and Dawson held a lead as large as 33 with the Trappers eventually falling by result of a 91-67 scoreline.
Dawson dominated 23-6 in second chance points as a result of a 19-9 offensive rebound difference, while only committing 12 turnovers to 18 for the Trappers.
“We’ve gotta figure out a little bit better ball control,” Ward said. “We were in our zone a fair amount so it’s a bit harder to rebound out of a zone … Nevertheless, I don’t think our positional rebounding was good enough.”
Milton Rodriguez Santana led with 19 points, Kolter Merritt finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, and Drew Larson was the final Trappers in double figures with 11 points.
Preston Condie led with nine rebounds, just ahead of Colin Hayes who had eight.
NORTHWEST 71, ROCKY MOUNTAIN JV 66Wrapping up the short Montana trip the Trappers traveled to Billings, taking on the Battlin’ Bears (2-5).
Northwest had a difficult time initially breaking down the 2-3 zone put in place by Rocky, with Ward saying the Trappers committed too many turnovers — trailing at the half 34-30.
“You expect a little bit higher turnover rate when you play a higher possession game in a full-court press like we did against Dawson,” Ward said. “When you have 17 (for the game) against a 2-3 zone that is just being careless with the ball. I thought we were pretty non-aggressive.”
One of the bright spots for the Trappers against the zone was their ability to get second opportunities, led by Merritt who ended up finishing with 10 offensive rebounds in the contest.
Northwest battled back in the second half, improving against the zone by attacking different areas and finding better opportunities to score.
The Trappers turned the tide in the second half and finished with a 71-66 win and earned the team’s second victory of the season.
“I thought we attacked the zone better in the second half,” Ward said. “We did a better job of drawing a second defender and getting in the gaps of the zone … I thought we grew as the game progressed and got better at that.”
Merritt led with 22 points and 15 total rebounds, Will Hemme finished with 12 points, six rebounds and six assists, Larson finished with seven points and 13 rebounds.
HOME STAND BEGINSNorthwest now returns home to compete for the remainder of the first semester, starting with a pair of games this weekend at Cabre Gym.
The first matchup for the Trappers will be North Idaho College (5-2) at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday (today).
“We will be tested this week with North Idaho,” Ward said.
Northwest will then play Real Salt Lake, an academy out of Utah, at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Those two will be part of six games over the next three weekends concluding on Dec. 16 before the Trappers split off for winter break.
DAWSON CC 91, NORTHWEST 67Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()Points — Milton Rodriguez Santana 19, Kolter Merritt 14, Drew Larson 11, Colin Hayes 7, Preston Condie 4, Will Hemme 3, Kaden Christensen 3, Max Postiglione 3, Krue Stubbs 3Rebounds — Preston Condie 9 (1), Colin Hayes 8 (1), Kolter Merritt 7 (3), Drew Larson 3 (1), Krue Stubbs 3 (2), Milton Rodriguez Santana 2 (1), Carter Clark 2, Will Hemme 1, Kaden Christensen 1, Max Postiglione 1Assists — Krue Stubbs 3, Milton Rodriguez Santana 2, Will Hemme 2, Drew Larson 2, Kaden Christensen 1, Carter Clark 1, Max Postiglione 1Steals — Kolter Merritt 2, Milton Rodriguez Santana 1, Will Hemme 1, Preston Condie 1Blocks — Colin Hayes 1
NORTHWEST 71, ROCKY MOUNTAIN JV 66Points — Kolter Merritt 22, Will Hemme 12, Milton Rodriguez Santana 8, Drew Larson 7, Preston Condie 7, Krue Stubbs 6, Kaden Christensen 5, Colin Hayes 4Rebounds — Kolter Merritt 15 (10), Drew Larson 13 (4), Will Hemme 6 (1), Kaden Christensen 5 (3), Colin Hayes 3 (2), Milton Rodriguez Santana 2 (1), Preston Condie 2 (1), Krue Stubbs 1, Max Postiglione 1Assists — Will Hemme 6, Kolter Merritt 4, Milton Rodriguez Santana 2, Kaden Christensen 2, Drew Larson 1Steals — Milton Rodriguez Santana 2, Krue Stubbs 2, Kolter Merritt 2, Drew Larson 1Blocks — Kolter Merritt 2, Drew Larson 2, Colin Hayes 2