Your future, our focus
Can Snap Skid Friday
For the first time in two seasons, the Northwest College men’s basketball team is on a losing streak.
The Trappers lost both of their games in Sheridan on Friday and Saturday, their first such streak since February of 2014.
NWC head coach Brian Erickson said the Trappers failed to bounce back when things didn’t go their way.
“We had some good moments, but the two things of mental toughness and adversity ... and when those things happen, true character comes out,” Erickson said. “How tough are we?”
Erickson said the Trappers must use the disappointing weekend in a positive manner.
“I hope we can take some lessons from last weekend and just learn from our mistakes and try to improve,” Erickson said. “Just taking those steps before break of becoming a better team, being able to work a lot better together. It’s going to tell us a lot about who we are.”
The Trappers were down just six points late in the second half of Friday’s 99-79 loss to Williston State, but fell apart down the stretch. Northwest lost to 93-91 to Dakota State Bottineau on Saturday.
Erickson said Northwest was susceptible to giving up big runs, and wasn’t ready to respond with runs of their own.
“(We were) playing two really good teams, and just trying to prepare them mentally to handle some of these runs,” Erickson said. “That second night, there was probably three different spurts or so, where we fell into playing into their game. We got away from doing what we do well.”
The Mystics led by four at the half, but used a full-court press and forced the Trappers into playing uncharacteriscally sloppy basketball. The Jacks used a similar tactic the next night and forced 27 Trapper turnovers.
“Both nights were very similar in them full court pressing, and us not following our game plan,” Erickson said.
Freshman Joel Tshimanga led the Trappers with 24 points on 10-for-12 shooting on Saturday afternoon, but was outdone by Dakota’s Philip Lee, who scored 30 points and led the Jacks with six assists and five steals. He also was second on his team with seven rebounds.
NWC sophomore Dan Milota had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds (and a team-high five assists), and once again set the bar for the Trappers.
“He leads our team in assists and is pretty close to points,” Erickson said. “I hope our guys can learn a lot from him. He’s just solid every game and he’s a great teammate.”
Erickson said Milota grew during his freshman season, when he was part of a region championship and national tournament appearance.
“He’s got the most experience on this team,” Erickson said. “The biggest thing is he is consistent because of that.”
Sukhjot Bains scored nine points and had nine rebounds, and Grantham Gillard scored 15 points in the loss.
Stats for Friday’s game against Williston were not readily available.
While the team’s overall lack of consistency contributed to a pair of losses, there were enough flashes of excellence that kept Erickson optimistic.
“This group is unbelievable. They’re great kids and they’re a lot of fun to coach,” Erickson said. “They get along on and off the court.
“We have our moments, moments where we do a great job.”
And the lesser moments occur when the team stops playing as one.
Erickson said his team reverted at times to the selfish play that caused them problems earlier in the season, and had already been successfully addressed.
“I think we have some talent and we have a good team, but we’re not a good team,” he said.
The Trappers will have a chance to stop the streak at two games and enter the winter break with a two-game winning streak. All Star teams Game Gear and Colorado Kings visit Powell this Friday and Saturday for a triangular with Gillette College.
“(We’re) hoping we can figure it out here this week and make some strides,” Erickson said. “But I think the biggest thing, it’s not even about losing basketball games, it’s about what can we learn from them.”