NWC MEN CRUISE PAST ALUMNI TEAM

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Opening the season with a quick pit stop at home the Northwest College men's basketball team cruised past an Alumni team 116-46 Saturday in Cabre Gym to kickstart the 2025-26 season.    

NORTHWEST 116, ALUMNI 46
On Saturday at home, the Trappers (1-0) took on an alumni team made up of former Trappers as well as basketball players from around the region.
Northwest immediately jumped out to a double digit lead, making it 12-0 just under three minutes in after a jumper by Nayel Girard before the alumni got on the board.
"One of the things we wanted to do obviously against a team like that, is control the tempo and that was what I wanted was for it to be an up tempo game," coach Andy Ward said. "I thought the guys did a pretty good job of that. They played really hard and got after it."
The alumni made a run, cutting the lead down to as little as six before the Trappers again pushed it back to double digits on a Travis Theran Archibald jumper with 9:45 left to make it 24-14.
The alumni cut it down one more time to six, before the Trappers pushed ahead for good with an outburst that made it 41-20 with four minutes left in the half on an Eli Patterson jump shot.
Northwest led 53-24 heading into the break.
In the second half the Trappers quickly made it a 30-point advantage on a Trey Rinn 3-pointer with 17:40 left, and never looked back en route to a 116-46 win.
Braydon Bradshaw led a contingent of Trappers in double figures with 20, as Rinn added 18, Patterson had 17, Mateo Trujillo had 14 and Archibald had 13 as every Trapper who played scored in the game.
"Played a lot of guys, and this was a good opportunity for me to get a pretty good evaluation of our whole team," Ward said. "I like our pieces, we're not where I want them to be, but that's what this part of the season is about. Just getting better as we prepare for conference play."
Girard led with nine rebounds, Trujillo and Patterson had four assists each, Patterson led with six steals while Bradshaw and R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle each had a block. 

MONTANA ROAD TRIP
The Trappers now head out on the road for several weeks, starting with a quick tour through eastern Montana.
Northwest starts with a difficult opponent in Dawson Community College (3-0) at 7:30 p.m. today (Thursday) in Glendive.
"They're gonna press us. They're gonna keep the pressure on us, they run the floor and push the ball up and down the floor," Ward said. "We've got to take care of the ball. In a game like that when they speed you up, shot selection can become an issue, can become just like a turnover … So we've got to be smart about our shot selection and strong with the ball, and working out of traps and double teams and things like that."
The Trappers then head to Miles City to take on Miles Community College (2-1) at 7 p.m. on Friday, and will remain in Miles City to take on United Tribes Technical College (0-3) at noon on Saturday.
"Three games in a row, I think they're all good teams," Ward said. "We're gonna have to play a lot of guys … By Saturday we'll be pretty worn down."
That will be the start of a two-weekend road trip for the Trappers before returning home on Nov. 21-22 for the Coach Collins Heart of a Champion Classic.     

NORTHWEST 116, ALUMNI 46
Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()
Points — Braydon Bradshaw 20, Trey Rinn 18, Eli Patterson 17, Mateo Trujillo 14, Travis Theran Archibald 13, Nayel Girard 8, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 8, Tate Monroe 7, Gunnar Erickson 5, Logan Woolstenhulme 2, John Hendricks 2, Richy Rodriguez 1, Monybuony Kor 1
Rebounds — Nayel Girard 9 (4), Travis Theran Archibald 6 (4), Eli Patterson 5 (3), R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 5 (2), Mateo Trujillo 4, Braydon Bradshaw 4 (1), Logan Woolstenhulme 4 (2), Tate Monroe 3, Trey Rinn 3, Richy Rodriguez 3 (1), John Hendricks 3, Monybuony Kor 2 (1), Gunnar Erickson 2 (1)
Assists — Mateo Trujillo 4, Eli Patterson 4, Tate Monroe 3, Richy Rodriguez 3, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 3, Trey Rinn 2, Braydon Bradshaw 2, Monybuony Kor 1, Gunnar Erickson 1, Nayel Girard 1, Logan Woolstenhulme 1
Steals — Eli Patterson 6, Braydon Bradshaw 2, Nayel Girard 2, Logan Woolstenhulme 2, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 2, Tate Monroe 1, Mateo Trujillo 1, Monybuony Kor 1, Gunnar Erickson 1
Blocks — Braydon Bradshaw 1, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 1