The Northwest College men’s basketball team rallied Friday and weathered a comeback attempt Saturday to add two more wins to the season tally. The Trappers defeated Eastern Wyoming 90-79 before holding on against Laramie County Community College 85-77 to complete two regular season sweeps.

NORTHWEST 90, EASTERN WYOMING 79

Returning home for the first time in several weeks and looking to snap a two game losing skid the Trappers (17-8 overall, 5-3 Region IX North) welcomed in the Lancers (5-20 overall, 1-7 Region IX North).

Northwest got off to a quick start against the visitors, opening a 7-0 lead right away against the visitors.

Eastern quickly responded, and the two teams were eventually deadlocked 9-9 just over four minutes into the game.

Northwest pulled ahead over the next five minutes, and held a 19-14 lead midway through the half.

The Trappers continued to cling onto the lead for much of the half until Eastern captured the lead up 28-27 on a 3-pointer.

Eastern built its lead up to as many as seven, before a late push by Northwest cut the scoreline to 41-37 heading into the locker room.

“I kind of thought it was really a tale of two halves,” coach Andy Ward said. “They shot the ball well in the first half and we were a little cold … In the first half we were 3-15 from three and shooting poorly from the arc. The second half was a different story.”

Trailing to start the second half the Trappers turned to Colin Hayes, who helped keep pace with the visitors as Northwest trailed 50-49 with just under 16 minutes left.

Northwest briefly recaptured the lead on a difficult jumper from Preston Condie with 14:20 left in the game, up 53-52, but the Lancers regained the lead up 55-53 with 12 minutes remaining.

Both teams went back and forth over the next four minutes with neither creating separation, until the Trappers got two key 3-pointers from Drew Larson and Hayes to make it 71-63 with seven minutes left.

Northwest eventually pushed the lead to double digits with 4:25 on the clock, as a Trey Rinn 3-pointer made it 79-69.

Eastern tried to make another run, but free throws down the stretch allowed Northwest to put the game away as the Trappers earned a 90-79 win to sweep the regular season series with the Lancers.

“In the second half we took better care of the ball, and as a result, had a lot better outcome,” Ward said.

Larson led with 20 points and seven rebounds, Tessi Thong had 19 points and led with five assists. Those two tied for the team lead with four steals.

Hayes had 16 points while Condie and Rinn each had 11.

NORTHWEST 85, LCCC 77

After the win on Friday the Trappers were looking for another regular season sweep, taking on the Golden Eagles (10-16 overall, 3-5 Region IX North).

Northwest again got off to a strong start, going up 10-3 inside the first two minutes behind strong shooting from Rinn.

“I haven’t felt like we’ve come out with very much energy, and I thought the guys did a better job of that this weekend,” Ward said.

Northwest kept pushing early, and more scoring from Rinn alongside Condie made it 17-3 and forced an LCCC timeout.

The Golden Eagles started scoring better but the Trappers maintained their advantage up 23-15 with 11 minutes left in the half.

Late in the half the Trapper lead had swelled to as many as 18 with 2:09 left, but a defensive change late allowed LCCC back in the contest.

A strong run by the visitors made it a 46-37 game going into the half.

The Golden Eagles carried that run into the second half, starting on an 18-7 stretch, taking the lead on a 3-pointer with 12:35 left and forcing a Northwest timeout.

“It was bad coaching. I think I made a mistake in that last couple minutes (of the first half), put us into a different defense,” Ward said. “But I thought we just didn’t do the things that we were doing when we increased our lead to 18. But I really thought our guys showed a lot of character, a lot of heart, a lot of toughness … In a 10 minute span we gave up a 20 point swing. So I guess seeing the glass half full we weathered the storm.”

Northwest didn’t let LCCC’s momentum  snowball any further, not allowing the visitors to lead by more than two.

Condie helped the Trappers re-establish a lead, scoring key baskets to help Northwest hold a 67-63 advantage with just minutes remaining.

“He made some big ones (shots) late,” Ward said. “He impacted our win a great deal.”

LCCC responded and cut the deficit down to one with just over 2:30 remaining, as Northwest needed free throws late to maintain its lead up 71-70.

Thankfully for the Trappers, free throws were their strength on Saturday.

Closing out the game the Trappers pulled away for an 85-77 win, going 25-25 at the free throw line for the game.

“You can’t shoot better than we did (at the free throw line),” Ward said. “They made the charity shots at the best clip you could possibly ask for.”

Hayes led with 21 points and tied for the team lead in rebounds with Larson and Eli Patterson with eight each.

Condie had 18 and led with five assists, Thong had 16 and Rinn 13 points.

HOME STRETCH CONTINUES

Northwest remains at home this week, taking on Central Wyoming (8-17 overall, 3-5 Region IX North) today (Thursday) at 7:30 p.m.

“Central is very tough, very stingy defensively,” Ward said. “They play at their pace and control the tempo.”

The Trappers will continue next week, heading on the road to take on Casper College (19-5 overall, 6-1 Region IX North) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

NORTHWEST 90, EASTERN WYOMING 79

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Drew Larson 20, Tessi Thong 19, Colin Hayes 16, Preston Condie 11, Trey Rinn 11, Eli Patterson 6, Ruben Bos 5, Tate Monroe 2

Rebounds — Drew Larson 7 (1), Preston Condie 5 (3), Eli Patterson 5 (2), Ruben Bos 4, Colin Hayes 3 (1), Trey Rinn 2

Assists — Tessi Thong 5, Preston Condie 3, Colin Hayes 2, Tate Monroe 2, Trey Rinn 1, Drew Larson 1

Steals — Tessi Thong 4, Drew Larson 4, Tate Monroe 2, Preston Condie 1, Trey Rinn 1, Colin Hayes 1, Eli Patterson 1, Ruben Bos 1

Blocks — Ruben Bos 2, Colin Hayes 1

NORTHWEST 85, LCCC 77

Points — Colin Hayes 21, Preston Condie 18, Tessi Thong 16, Trey Rinn 13, Drew Larson 6, Tate Monroe 5, Eli Patterson 4, Ants-Kristjan Kalmus 2

Rebounds — Drew Larson 8 (1), Colin Hayes 8 (2), Eli Patterson 8 (5), Preston Condie 4 (1), Carter Clark 2, Tessi Thong 1

Assists — Preston Condie 5, Tessi Thong 3, Trey Rinn 1, Drew Larson 1, Colin Hayes 1, Tate Monroe 1, Eli Patterson 1

Steals — Drew Larson 2, Colin Hayes 2, Tessi Thong 1, Preston Condie 1, Trey Rinn 1, Tate Monroe 1

Blocks — Colin Hayes 2