NWC MEN DOMINATE HOME CONTESTS

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Dominant performances over three separate days helped the Northwest College men's basketball team to a strong showing in front of the home crowd, defeating United Tribes Technical College 94-66 and Williston State College 94-76 during the Coach Collins Heart of a Champion Classic before defeating the Rocky Mountain College JV 102-49 on Tuesday night.    

NORTHWEST 94, UNITED TRIBES 66
Returning home for the first time in three weeks the Trappers (6-3) welcomed in the Thunderbirds (4-7) on Friday.
Northwest started out with an early advantage, leading 13-10 five minutes in after a Nayel Girard tip-in.
The Trappers maintained their advantage with a 32-27 lead with five minutes remaining after an R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle free throw.
Late in the half Trappers started creating separation, making it a 40-29 scoreline heading into halftime.
Early in the second half a Mateo Trujillo and-one made it 56-34 with 15:26 remaining, and the Trappers started to cruise in the second half.
Northwest led by as many as 31, and ended with a 94-66 win.
The Trappers dominated on the boards, outrebounding the Thunderbirds 51-23 including 26 offensive rebounds, and got to the line 44 times going 29-44 (65.9%) compared to 7-10 for the visitors.
"I'm not sure a whole lot of offensive rebounds is necessarily a good thing, because that means we're missing a lot of shots," coach Andy Ward said. "We put an emphasis on really attacking the paint more, either through a post up or a drive. I thought the guys did a good job of that … We got to the free throw line. So I was just pleased to see that."
Travis Theran Archibald led with 14 points while Trey Rinn added 13.
Whittle led with nine rebounds, Tate Monroe, Trujillo, Girard and Archibald each had three assists.
Gunnar Erickson led with three steals while Braydon Bradshaw and Whittle each had a block.    

NORTHWEST 94, WILLISTON STATE 76
The Trappers welcomed in the Tetons (8-3) on Saturday and were hoping to carry their momentum from Friday.
Northwest started strong, building a 13-6 lead just five minutes in.
Trujillo made it a 19-8 advantage after a layup with 11:50 remaining, and Northwest led 22-8 midway through the half.
An Archibald 3-pointer made it a more than 20-point advantage shortly after as Northwest led 30-9 with 8:30 left.
Northwest made it a 40-16 game with 3:55 left before the Tetons had a small run before the break.
Eli Patterson's and-one helped the Trappers stop the run late and they held a 53-32 lead at the break.
The visitors again tried making a run in the second half, but two Archibald 3-pointers held off any hope of a comeback as Northwest led 71-64 with 14 minutes left.
Northwest continued pressing and ran away with the 94-76 win despite a late push by the visitors to trim the final advantage.
Trujillo led with 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Archibald added 19 points in the win.
"Mateo did a pretty good job of scoring and attacking when he needed to," Ward said.
Trujillo, Rinn and Monroe each had two assists while Bradshaw and Whittle each recorded a block.  

NORTHWEST 102, ROCKY MOUNTAIN JV 49
Returning to the court on Tuesday the Trappers welcomed in the Battlin' Bears.
Early on the Trappers took the lead and made it 16-7 inside the first two minutes.
Northwest led by as many as 22-9, before the visitors battled back the rest of the half.
Rocky cut the lead down to as little as a possession, trailing 27-24 with seven minutes left.
Northwest regained its footing, and pushed it back to double digits heading into the break leading 42-32 at halftime.
In the second half the Trappers made it a 20-point contest after a Patterson 3-pointer with 13:45 left made it 59-39.
Whittle's layup just four minutes later made it a more than 30-point game at 73-42.
The Trappers cruised in the second half and dominated the visitors, outscoring the Battlin' Bears 60-17 for the 102-49 win.
"First half they just kept getting in the lane," Ward said. "I thought the second half, we wanted to do a better job there, not getting so extended and just do a good job of guarding the dribble. We did better in the second half. I think that's where we pulled away."
Stats from the Rocky Mountain game were unavailable as of press time.    

HIGH RANKED OPPONENT
Northwest stays at home this upcoming weekend, welcoming in the NJCAA No. 4 ranked team in the country to Cabre Gym at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
That team is Snow College (7-0) from Utah, and Ward expects a difficult contest.
"You don't get a lot of opportunities like this. It's hard to get home games up here and we're drawing one of the best teams in the country," Ward said. "They've had a long time off to prepare for us, they're good, they're well coached and they've got really good players. We're gonna have to do the things that we always preach: we have to take care of the basketball, we've got to a good job in transition and take away easy baskets."    

NORTHWEST 94, UNITED TRIBES 66
Points — Travis Theran Archibald 14, Trey Rinn 13, Tate Monroe 9, Isaac Wolfe 9, Braydon Bradshaw 8, Monybuony Kor 8, Eli Patterson 7, Mateo Trujillo 6, Logan Woolstenhulme 6, Nayel Girard 4, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 4, Gunnar Erickson 3, John Hendricks 3
Rebounds — R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 9 (6), Eli Patterson 8 (6), Nayel Girard 5 (4), Travis Theran Archibald 5 (3), Tate Monroe 4 (1), Braydon Bradshaw 4, Logan Woolstenhulme 4 (2), Mateo Trujillo 3, Monybuony Kor 3 (3), Trey Rinn 2, Gunnar Erickson 2 (1), Richy Rodriguez 1, Isaac Wolfe 1
Assists — Tate Monroe 3, Mateo Trujillo 3, Nayel Girard 3, Travis Theran Archibald 3, Gunnar Erickson 2, Trey Rinn 1, Eli Patterson 1, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 1
Steals — Gunnar Erickson 3, Braydon Bradshaw 2, Monybuony Kor 2, Mateo Trujillo 1, Eli Patterson 1, Nayel Girard 1, Isaac Wolfe 1, Travis Theran Archibald 1
Blocks — Braydon Bradshaw 1, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 1     

NORTHWEST 94, WILLISTON STATE 76
Points — Mateo Trujillo 21, Travis Theran Archibald 19, Eli Patterson 10, Braydon Bradshaw 10, Tate Monroe 10, Logan Woolstenhulme 9, Trey Rinn 5, Nayel Girard 4, Gunnar Erickson 3, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 3
Rebounds — Mateo Trujillo 8 (1), Eli Patterson 4 (1), Logan Woolstenhulme 4 (2), Braydon Bradshaw 3 (1), Tate Monroe 3 (2), R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 3 (1), Nayel Girard 2, Trey Rinn 2, Isaac Wolfe 2, Travis Theran Archibald 2, Monybuony Kor 1
Assists — Mateo Trujillo 7, Tate Monroe 4, Nayel Girard 2, Eli Patterson 2, Travis Theran Archibald 2, Isaac Wolfe 1
Steals — Mateo Trujillo 2, Trey Rinn 2, Tate Monroe 2, Nayel Girard 1, Eli Patterson 1, Isaac Wolfe 1, Logan Woolstenhulme 1
Blocks — Braydon Bradshaw 1, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 1