Jan. 15, 2008

Final Stats

The Plainsmen of Northeastern Junior College, a team that finished seventh in Nationals a year ago, is a team that is playing with a target on its back, and everyone wants a piece.

In a tough trip north to Wyoming over the weekend, the team split the two contests between Sheridan College and Casper College. NJC beat Sheridan, ending their impressive home streak, 73-64. The following day, Northeastern was defeated by Casper College 74-69 in overtime.

The Plainsmen now hold a 14-3 record this season.

"I've always felt that with this group, if we can get everything together, we are the best team in the region," NJC men's basketball coach Eddie Trenkle said. "People have already seen how good we can be. With 11 new kids on a team, there will be times where we struggle, and we hit some of those against Casper."

Against Sheridan, a team that carried an impressive home winning streak, NJC actually had some work to do early on, down 32-28 at halftime. The team stuck together and outscored their opponent 45-32 in the second half to earn the win.

Northeastern shot 60 percent in the final half. Sophomore Troy Smith added another solid game to his resume, going for 22 points and recorded three steals. Smith shot 10-13 from the free throw line. Lawrence Tyson added 12 points in the win.

"Sheridan was extremely tough to beat," Trenkle said. "Our kids have the confidence knowing that we beat them on their home court for the next time we have to play them."

After the big win, the team played Casper College and appeared to start off where they left off in Sheridan.

The team began the game on a 13-1 run but only managed to score 19 points in the half. NJC was down 24-19 at the break.

Northeastern would take the lead at 30-29 on a shot by DeRay Wilson, but Casper would soon open up a double-digit lead.

To the Plainsmen's credit, from the 10:39 mark all the way to the end of regulation, they would run a 25-14 run to force overtime, locked in a 59-59 tie.

After playing close early on, Casper jumped out to a small lead, that continued to get bigger, as they nailed free throws down the stretch.

"I'm not the type of guy that likes to lose in a learning experience," Trenkle said. "This was a learning experience for us. If we beat them next time, then it was a positive learning experience."

Leading the way Saturday night was Mike Dominguez, who shot the ball really well in the second half. He finished with 19 points, nailing five from deep. Jeron Lewis had 10 points, while Eric Miller finished with 11 rebounds.

The lost was the first to a Region IX team since March 10, 2006, in the title game against Sheridan College. NJC returns to action tonight against Eastern Wyoming College at the Bank of Colorado Event Center at 7:30 p.m.

Northeastern beat Eastern Wyoming 75-57 in an earlier meeting, but Coach says it, "won't be an easy game. The team is physical and can shoot the ball."