Trappers go two for two

Posted 11/23/10

Northwest improves to 3-1 overall with the victories.

“It's always good to get a couple of marks in that W column,” said Trapper head coach Andy Ward. “Obviously there are a few things we need to work on, but overall I thought …

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Trappers go two for two

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{gallery}11_23_10/trapperbball{/gallery}NWC men shoot down Shootout foesAfter a nearly two-week gap between games, the Northwest College men's basketball team returned to the court to register a weekend sweep in the First National Bank Shootout. The Trapper men won 70-58 over the University of Montana, Western on Friday. The team followed with an 88-74 win over the Colorado All-Stars.

Northwest improves to 3-1 overall with the victories.

“It's always good to get a couple of marks in that W column,” said Trapper head coach Andy Ward. “Obviously there are a few things we need to work on, but overall I thought it was a good tournament and a good couple of days for us.”

On Friday night, it was a big second-half effort from the Trappers that helped the team overcome a slim 28-27 halftime lead by the Montana school. The Bulldogs' zone defense, combined with a 4-for-8 shooting display from behind the arc helped the visiting team keep Northwest off balance for the first 20 minutes.

In the second half, the team came out with greater intensity, attacking the UMW zone look with more efficiency. The Trappers knocked down better than 51 percent of their shots over the final 20 minutes. The team also forced its way to the free throw line 15 times in the second half, compared to just two trips to the charity stripe in the first half.

While the squad was finding success offensively, the Trappers were also able to corral the UMW perimeter game better in the second half. Northwest allowed the Bulldogs to hit just 2-of-10 from behind the arc after the break, further helping the squad to pull away late.

“We hadn't played for a couple of weeks, and it showed early,” said Ward. “We weren't sure what to expect from them on defense and as a result we were on our heels a bit against their zone. We just played timid that first half. In the second half, we just looked to attack more and really turned it up defensively and that helped trigger a few things offensively for us.”

Curtis Trotter delivered the brunt of the Trappers' inside attack, finishing with 25 points, nine rebounds and four assists —all team highs. Dee Crandall slashed his way to an additional 16 points while Amen Osayande added 11 points and another eight boards for Northwest.

On Saturday, the team faced off against the under-manned, but dangerous Colorado All-Stars. The team brought just six players to Powell, but two of the six were former Division I players.

Northwest cashed in on that lack of depth late in the first half, pushing out to a double-digit lead. The team maintained the gap in the second half, thanks in part to a 62-37 edge on the rebounding glass.

“The thing that really jumps off the stat sheet about that game is the number of shot attempts we had,” said Ward. “We were able to put up 96 shots, which was 36 more than we had the night before against Montana Western. Going in, we thought controlling the tempo was important since they had just six guys. We did a good job of playing at a high speed without just throwing the ball everywhere.”

Trotter finished with 21 points and nine rebounds to again lead Northwest College in both categories. William Walker added 14 points to finish as the only other Trapper player in double figures. Shane Reader finished with five assists and Chantz Ramos had three steals defensively.

“Chantz had a really good game,” said Ward. “He came and played with a high level of energy. Not only did he get steals, but he got in there and pulled down seven rebounds for us.”

Northwest heads to Sheridan on Friday for the Lions Club Tournament. The team plays Friday against the Rocky Mountain JV and Saturday against Little Big Horn before returning home to face the College of Eastern Utah and Snow College as part of the Dec. 3-4 Trapper Tournament.

Northwest 88, Colorado All-Stars 74

Ramos 6, Clement 7, Osayande 8, Trotter 21, Tucker 7, Ackelson 2, Crandall 6, Smith 2, Robinson 4, Pasos 7, Walker 14, Rumley 4.

Northwest 70, Montana, Western 58

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