With the turn of the calendar into January, Northwest College men’s basketball will be looking for stops — as in putting the brakes on opponents’ offensive production.

The Trappers’ first opportunity to show defensive improvement comes Sunday, when they host Williston State College from North Dakota at 2 p.m. in Cabre Gym. In their first game of the season, on Nov. 7 at Williston, the Trappers were scorched 109-76.

“We don’t want to have to score 99 points to win ball games,” said NWC head coach Jay Collins.

That’s about what it has taken lately. In their last six games, the Trappers scored an average of 99.1 points while giving up 97. They managed just a split over that period, winning three and losing three.

“We like to play fast,” Collins acknowledged of his team’s high-scoring offense. “But we need to put more emphasis on defense.”

At the holiday break in the 2019-2020 season, Northwest sports a 7-8 record. The Trappers lost two games to close out pre-Christmas play in Bismarck, North Dakota. They fell in overtime 105-99 to Bismarck State College and 99-96 to United Tribes Technical College.

NWC missed the defensive presence of 6-foot, 8-inch, sophomore Seth Mason of Phoenix, Arizona, in its last three games. Mason suffered a severe ankle sprain on Dec. 7 early in a home win over Dawson Community College.

Collins is hopeful his tallest player will return in January.

“Seth [Mason] fills the middle for us on defense,” the coach said. “He brings a toughness around the basket.”

At the mid-point in the season, redshirt sophomore Kyle Brown paces NWC in scoring with a point average of 24.4 points per game. (Cumulative statistics reflect 14 games, as official statistics have not been received from the Trapper men’s last game against United Tribes on Dec. 14.)

Brown leads in field goal shooting, making a sparkling 52 percent of his shots (130 of 249). As a team, Northwest is shooting at a 48 percent clip from the floor (485 of 1,005). Brown, a 6-foot, 2-inch guard from New York City, also leads in free throw shooting, making 36 of 46 attempts for 78 percent.

The Trappers have featured balanced offensive production behind Brown. Only freshman Josh Petteno carries a scoring average in double figures (14.9 points per game), but four others are tightly bunched: Mason at 9.8 points per game, Jerome Mabry with 9.1, Rambo Badyal 8.9 and Max Dehon 7.8.

Badyal and Petteno are the top 3-point shooters. Badyal has made 20 of 46 for 43 percent, and Petteno has cashed 47 of 113 for 42 percent.

Freshman point guard Alan Swenson makes the Trapper offense go; he has 100 assists in 14 games. Next is Petteno with 48. Petteno is the team leader with 23 steals.

Mabry has 104 rebounds to lead the team. Petteno follows with 75.