Hosting the Coach Collins Heart of a Champion Classic, the Northwest College men’s basketball team was on opposite sides of a pair of late runs, defeating Bismarck State College 83-69 on Friday before losing to Dawson Community College in a turnover plagued contest 83-81 in overtime on Saturday.

NORTHWEST 83, BISMARCK STATE 69

Opening the weekend on Friday against the Mystics (3-6) the Trappers (6-3) were hoping to continue their strong shooting at home.

Early on both teams scored evenly, as the two programs were knotted at 9-9 four minutes in.

Neither team gained an advantage over the next four minutes, as the Trappers and Mystics were tied at 17.

Northwest finally started to create some separation, leading by three points with eight minutes left after a Ruben Bos 3-pointer at 25-22.

Down the stretch in the first half the Trappers built a stronger lead, finishing off the run with a layup by Tessi Thong with 30 seconds left to lead 46-36 at halftime.

“I didn’t think we were particularly patient enough offensively, we didn’t quite shoot the ball like we needed to,” coach Andy Ward said.

Both teams scored strong early in the second half, but the Trappers maintained a 57-49 lead five minutes into the second period.

The visitors started chipping away at the lead, cutting it to five points over the next four minutes with the Trappers leading 61-56.

That run continued for the Mystics, who made it a one possession game at 69-66 with just over five minutes left.

A quick burst by Northwest was capped off by a Colin Hayes dunk, making it a 73-66 game with 4:25 left.

A Preston Condie 3-pointer helped Northwest pull away for good, making it a double-digit game with just over two minutes remaining at 78-66.

Northwest held the Mystics to three points over the final five minutes en route to an 83-69 win.

“I thought we did a good job of putting pressure on them. We got to the free throw line and capitalized there,” Ward said. “I thought the guys had a solid effort, we just weren’t as efficient as we needed to be offensively. That comes down to us being a little bit more patient in our shot selection and execution.”

Condie led with 16 points, Thong and Hayes each had 15 while Bos had 10.

Drew Larson led with 11 rebounds.

DAWSON CC 83, NORTHWEST 81 (OT)

The win on Friday was the fourth in a row for the Trappers, who put that winning streak on the line against the fast-paced Buccaneers (7-1).

Early on the Trappers slowed down the visitors with their zone, holding a narrow 4-3 lead after the first four minutes.

A strong start by Thong helped Northwest push the lead to 12-9 after the first eight minutes, before the Buccaneers sped up the pace of play.

That pace increase helped the Buccaneers take the lead at 17-16, before the Trappers responded with a 10-0 run capped off by an R’Zha Whittle basket to make it 26-17 with six minutes left.

Northwest pushed the lead to 32-22 after a Tate Monroe basket with 3:38 left in the half, and Northwest maintained an advantage going into the half up 37-30.

“I thought we did a decent job of controlling the tempo and making them play in the half court … There were stretches where we had the game at the speed that was more conducive to us winning,” Ward said. “The tempo was right, we had it right. We did a good job of making them play longer possessions.”

Early in the second half the Buccaneers started to cut into the lead, slowly inching closer to the Trappers over the first five minutes to make it 45-40.

The lead got to as little as two points at 49-47, before the Trappers went on an 11-0 run capped off by a Monroe free throw with 9:28 left.

Northwest maintained a double digit advantage, leading 64-52 with seven minutes left after a Trey Rinn jumper.

A 12-4 run by the Buccaneers tightened the contest to 68-64, and they eventually tied the contest at 69 with two minutes left.

“We were up 12 with five minutes to play, and you know, the wheels just kind of came off,” Ward said. “We turned the ball over in crucial situations and to their (Dawson’s) credit, they made plays. They never quit.”

A technical was called immediately after the game-tying basket, and Larson made both free throws to restore the Northwest lead 71-69.

Free throws by Dawson tied the game at 71 with a minute left. Each team had one final opportunity and Condie’s shot from midcourt was off as the teams went to overtime.

Dawson went up four in the first minute, and held the lead until two minutes remaining when Hayes made a free throw to tie it at 77.

Northwest eventually took the lead 81-80 after a Hayes jumper, but a Dawson free throw tied it with 38 seconds left.

Hayes had a layup bounce out with 25 seconds left before the Buccaneers raced down to the other end and converted a layup of their own to take an 83-81 lead.

Condie had one more chance with seconds remaining, but his jumper was off and the Trappers fell 83-81.

“I thought we were much more efficient offensively aside from turning the ball over. We turned the ball over 35 times and they ended up getting 19 offensive rebounds,” Ward said. “We met with the team Monday, we talked about the game, watched a lot of the video and with a positive spin, it’s a one possession game and we turned the ball over 35 times and gave up 19 offensive rebounds. So we did some really good things in that game to put ourselves in position to win it. But when you give it away 35 times and give up 19 second opportunities you kind of shoot yourself in the foot.”

Larson led with 18 points, Condie had 16, Thong had 15, Hayes had 12 and Monroe had 11 for the Trappers.

Larson and Monroe each had six rebounds and Thong led with five assists. Monroe had three steals and Kaden Christensen had two blocks.

NORTH DAKOTA CONTESTS

The Trappers will head on the road for a pair of contests following Thanksgiving, starting with a rematch against the Mystics at 6:30 p.m. today (Friday).

“That was a hard fought game (here),” Ward said. “We’re gonna have to be ready. We’ll review things and kind of make adjustments that we need to make.”

Northwest then takes on United Tribes Technical College (3-8) at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

“That’ll be a similar style that we saw against Dawson, because they like to press and play up tempo. We’ll get another opportunity to maybe get a little better at fighting the press,” Ward said.

The Trappers will return home for one game on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. to take on the Rocky Mountain JV.