The Northwest College men’s basketball team’s season is off to a 2-1 start. The Trappers defeated the Rocky Mountain JV 89-69 at home on Saturday, before heading on the road to Scottsbluff on Monday and Tuesday, dropping a game in overtime to Western Nebraska 87-81 and defeating the Colorado All-Stars 88-49.

NWC 89, Rocky Mountain JV 69

Wanting to start their season on the right note, the Trapper men jumped out to a 12-3 lead early in Saturday’s game against the Battlin’ Bears.

NWC then built on that lead, continuing to apply full court pressure to Rocky Mountain College’s JV and scoring off of transition layups. The Trappers led 31-19 midway through the half. 

Coach Jay Collins managed a deep rotation, shifting entire lineups all at once and gave 10 Trappers significant minutes throughout the game.

Leading 40-30 at the half, NWC blew the game open in the third quarter, going on a 21-12 run to take a commanding lead over Rocky.

A balanced scoring effort throughout from the Trappers allowed them to keep the Battlin’ Bears guessing. Five Northwest players finished in double figures, led by Juan Tellez. Rocky struggled with foul trouble in the second half, leading to a season-opening win for the Trappers in Powell, 89-69.

“We remained unselfish and played hard and got better,” Collins said.

Western Nebraska 87,  NWC 81 (OT)

After opening at home, the Trappers began a month-long road trip by travelling to Scottsbluff, Nebraska, on Monday to take on the Western Nebraska Cougars (2-0). 

The Trappers came out flat, allowing Western Nebraska to jump out to leads of 11-4 and then 24-12 midway through the first half.

“We were very underprepared for what they were going to throw at us,” Collins said, but “We got our footing and got our head clear.”

Northwest began knocking down shots to finish the half on a 19-5 run.

A 3-pointer by David Cordova gave the Trappers their first lead since early in the game at 32-31, and a tip-in by Tellez extended the advantage to 36-31 going into the half.

The Trappers continued to play their style of basketball, forcing turnovers early in the second half and picking up quick transition baskets to grow its lead to 44-33.

A 9-2 run by Western Nebraska allowed the Cougars to pull within five at 53-48. A basket and the foul by Oluwaseyi Oyeku helped pad the Trapper lead and led to a technical foul against Western Nebraska. 

Unfortunately for the Trappers, they went 1-3 from the line on those free throw attempts, which would be one of the deciding factors in the game down the stretch.

The Trappers led 70-63 with six minutes left, but the Cougars put together an 11-4 run to tie things with 30 seconds left.

Northwest got the final shot of the game, but a Trapper layup followed by tip-in attempts did not find the bottom of the net.

In overtime, the two teams battled back and forth until Western Nebraska broke out of a 78-all tie to go on a 9-3 run to end the game. The Cougars took an 87-81 victory.

Overall, the Trappers were led in scoring by Bryson Stephens who finished with 29 points. However, the team finished 5-of-23 from the 3-point line and 10-of-21 from the free throw line.

“You gotta make free throws,” Collins said. “Going 47% from the free throw line will not win you games.”

NWC 88, Colorado All-Stars 49

Heading into their third game in four days, the Trappers came out with a renewed focus against the Colorado All-Stars.

“It was good to see that we did not have any residual left over from the previous night,” Collins said.

The Trappers jumped out to a 23-5 lead and never looked back.

Northwest continued to apply pressure to Colorado, as the lead swelled to 40 points with a minute left in the half on a 3-pointer by Andre Loigu.

The Trappers took a 54-22 advantage into the second half, and coasted from there to finish an 88-49 victory.

On to Riverton

The Trappers will have a few days to rest, before hitting the road this weekend to Riverton. They’ll take on Northeastern Junior College — the reigning Region IX tournament champions — on Friday, and face Lamar Community College on Saturday.

“Obviously we feel we should be 3-0 but we are 2-1 and feeling good heading into a tough tournament,” Collins said.

Friday’s game has a 3 p.m. tip-off time and the game on Saturday is set for 1 p.m.

The Trappers will look to keep their scoring up as they are averaging 86 points per game through their first three contests. They’ll also work to adjust their press a little more to help generate more turnovers.

After the weekend tourney, the Trappers will head on a three-game road swing Tuesday through Thursday in Montana.