Trapper teams swept by Eastern WyomingNorthwest College suffered a hardwood rarity on Saturday as both the men's and women's basketball teams were defeated on the road at Eastern Wyoming. The Trapper men lost their second consecutive overtime decision, falling 92-86 after an extra five minutes. Northwest lost the women's game by a 75-56 final count. “It is disappointing,” said Trapper men's coach Andy Ward, whose team was trying to shake off the ghosts from a double-overtime loss suffered at the buzzer the previous week at Western Wyoming. “We just didn't play with an edge.”Northwest College trailed by eight at halftime after struggling to a first half shooting percent of just 36.7 percent from the floor. The result was one of the team's lowest scoring halves of ball this season as Eastern Wyoming held a 33-25 lead. The Trappers were able to heat up a bit in the second half, at least from inside the 3-point arc. Northwest College was never able to get in a groove from long-range, finishing an icy 2-for16. “We were pretty dismal from behind the arc,” said Ward. “It wasn't our best night offensively.”Despite those struggles, the Trappers had a chance to win at the end of regulation. After tying the game with 25 seconds remaining, Northwest College regained possession as Eastern threw the ball out of bounds from the baseline against the Trappers' full-court pressure. Mitch Ackelson's highly contested shot at the buzzer missed the mark to send the game into an extra period. “I take responsibility for our final shot,” said Ward. “We didn't get the ball in a position we would have liked to have it, and that's my fault.”In overtime, the Trappers were buried under a flurry of hot shooting. Eastern Wyoming connected on eight of its 12 shot attempts from the floor as the team added 20 points to its side of the scoreboard in overtime. Northwest was unable to keep up with the frantic pace. “Defensively, we got worse as the game went on,” Ward said. “We broke down entirely too much on defense. We gave up 19 offensive rebounds and put them at the line 35 times in the game. We can't afford to do that.”Ackelson finished with 23 points for Northwest to lead all scorers as both teams put four players in double figures. Ackelson also hauled in 10 boards and dished out five assists for NWC. Casper Hesseldal added 18 points while Demetrice Jacobs had 14 points and Valdez Green finished with 13. The Trappers played the contest without leading scorer Alfonzo Hubbard, who was held out of the game, according to Ward, for a violation of team rules. Lance Korell knocked down 22 points to lead Eastern.“The nice thing with both this loss and the loss last week at Western Wyoming is that it doesn't have any bearing on our regional tournament seeding,” said Ward, whose team slides to 18-5 overall. “We can still accomplish our goal. We just need to work on some things and get ready to head to Dawson this week.”First half costs NWC womenNorthwest College head coach Janis Beal could relate well with Ward's defensive disappointment on Saturday. The Trapper women's coach was similarly shaking her head on the long ride home. “Defensively, we had no intensity,” said Beal. “We need to work on our defensive concepts and fundamentals this week.”The Trappers watched as Eastern Wyoming knocked down 50 percent of its shots from the floor in the first half on Saturday, including five first-half 3-pointers. Northwest trailed 42-25 midway through the game and wasn't able to mount a second-half rally. Jessica Brown menaced the Trappers throughout the night, finishing with 30 points and 10 rebounds for Eastern Wyoming. “She's a point guard and she's quick and we just let her go right by us,” said Beal. “They've got a couple of good shooters that we said we couldn't sag off of, and we did, so she was able to kick the ball out to them on occasion as well. We just didn't play with good intensity at either end of the floor.”Megan Goodman finished with 12 points for the Trappers. Sharla Stevenson and Kati Oliverson both added 10 points. As a team, the Trappers reached the free throw line just four times in the game. The team coaxed just nine turnovers from Eastern over the course of the afternoon.“Going into the game, we had even talked about needing to get to the free throw line and we didn't do it,” Beal said. “We weren't very aggressive with the way we played at either end of the floor.”The Trapper women slide to 8-14 overall with the loss. “It was a disappointing game for us because this is a team we'd defeated by 20 points when we played them at home earlier this year,” said Beal. “For us to turn around and then lose to them by 20 at their place is very disappointing.”Both Trapper teams look to return to the win column this Saturday when they travel to Dawson for Region IX North sub-region contests.

Trapper teams swept by Eastern Wyoming

Northwest College suffered a hardwood rarity on Saturday as both the men's and women's basketball teams were defeated on the road at Eastern Wyoming. The Trapper men lost their second consecutive overtime decision, falling 92-86 after an extra five minutes. Northwest lost the women's game by a 75-56 final count.

“It is disappointing,” said Trapper men's coach Andy Ward, whose team was trying to shake off the ghosts from a double-overtime loss suffered at the buzzer the previous week at Western Wyoming. “We just didn't play with an edge.”

Northwest College trailed by eight at halftime after struggling to a first half shooting percent of just 36.7 percent from the floor. The result was one of the team's lowest scoring halves of ball this season as Eastern Wyoming held a 33-25 lead.

The Trappers were able to heat up a bit in the second half, at least from inside the 3-point arc. Northwest College was never able to get in a groove from long-range, finishing an icy 2-for16.

“We were pretty dismal from behind the arc,” said Ward. “It wasn't our best night offensively.”

Despite those struggles, the Trappers had a chance to win at the end of regulation. After tying the game with 25 seconds remaining, Northwest College regained possession as Eastern threw the ball out of bounds from the baseline against the Trappers' full-court pressure. Mitch Ackelson's highly contested shot at the buzzer missed the mark to send the game into an extra period.

“I take responsibility for our final shot,” said Ward. “We didn't get the ball in a position we would have liked to have it, and that's my fault.”

In overtime, the Trappers were buried under a flurry of hot shooting. Eastern Wyoming connected on eight of its 12 shot attempts from the floor as the team added 20 points to its side of the scoreboard in overtime. Northwest was unable to keep up with the frantic pace.

“Defensively, we got worse as the game went on,” Ward said. “We broke down entirely too much on defense. We gave up 19 offensive rebounds and put them at the line 35 times in the game. We can't afford to do that.”

Ackelson finished with 23 points for Northwest to lead all scorers as both teams put four players in double figures.

Ackelson also hauled in 10 boards and dished out five assists for NWC. Casper Hesseldal added 18 points while Demetrice Jacobs had 14 points and Valdez Green finished with 13.

The Trappers played the contest without leading scorer Alfonzo Hubbard, who was held out of the game, according to Ward, for a violation of team rules.

Lance Korell knocked down 22 points to lead Eastern.

“The nice thing with both this loss and the loss last week at Western Wyoming is that it doesn't have any bearing on our regional tournament seeding,” said Ward, whose team slides to 18-5 overall. “We can still accomplish our goal. We just need to work on some things and get ready to head to Dawson this week.”

First half costs NWC women

Northwest College head coach Janis Beal could relate well with Ward's defensive disappointment on Saturday. The Trapper women's coach was similarly shaking her head on the long ride home.

“Defensively, we had no intensity,” said Beal. “We need to work on our defensive concepts and fundamentals this week.”

The Trappers watched as Eastern Wyoming knocked down 50 percent of its shots from the floor in the first half on Saturday, including five first-half 3-pointers. Northwest trailed 42-25 midway through the game and wasn't able to mount a second-half rally.

Jessica Brown menaced the Trappers throughout the night, finishing with 30 points and 10 rebounds for Eastern Wyoming.

“She's a point guard and she's quick and we just let her go right by us,” said Beal. “They've got a couple of good shooters that we said we couldn't sag off of, and we did, so she was able to kick the ball out to them on occasion as well. We just didn't play with good intensity at either end of the floor.”

Megan Goodman finished with 12 points for the Trappers. Sharla Stevenson and Kati Oliverson both added 10 points.

As a team, the Trappers reached the free throw line just four times in the game. The team coaxed just nine turnovers from Eastern over the course of the afternoon.

“Going into the game, we had even talked about needing to get to the free throw line and we didn't do it,” Beal said. “We weren't very aggressive with the way we played at either end of the floor.”

The Trapper women slide to 8-14 overall with the loss.

“It was a disappointing game for us because this is a team we'd defeated by 20 points when we played them at home earlier this year,” said Beal. “For us to turn around and then lose to them by 20 at their place is very disappointing.”

Both Trapper teams look to return to the win column this Saturday when they travel to Dawson for Region IX North sub-region contests.