Jan. 16, 2008

Final Stats

By Anthony Arroyo Journal-Advocate sports reporter

STERLING -- In the first meeting between the Northeaster Junior College Plainsmen and the Eastern Wyoming Lancers, NJC took advantage of missed shots by their opponent, on their way to a double-digit victory. This time, Eastern Wyoming was making their shots.

But the Plainsmen stayed tough down the stretch and not even an accidental fire alarm pull could stop them. Northeastern was victorious 63-61 at the Bank of Colorado Event Center, improving to 17-3 overall and 8-0 on their home court.

"Home games are the ones your supposed to win," NJC men's head coach Eddie Trenkle said in an interview earlier this season. "My philosophy is if you win your home games and at least half your road games, you're a good team." Northeastern didn't show who the better team early on, as the Lancers were simply on fire, scoring the first eight points of the game. That didn't suit well with sophomore Mike Dominguez as he came right back, draining consecutive three-pointers to tie the game after freshman Alex Garcia-Mendoza got the team on the board. From there, the team would begin to build on the momentum, scoring a 15-5 run to advance the lead to 23-13, forcing Eastern Wyoming to call a time out.

Fresh off the break the team made a run of their own, a 12-4 run to tie matters at 25 apiece. The lead would get no bigger than six points the rest of the way. In the second half, both teams received an unanticipated delay, as the fire alarm system began to sound. Everyone was evacuated from the building and after a 22 minute delay, the game was restored, with NJC leading 45-44 and sophomore A.J. Wilson at the free-throw line.

Down the stretch, it was Lawrence Tyson that hit a big shot with 31 seconds to give the Plainsmen a 63-58 lead. After one of two free throws by Eastern Wyoming, the team got the ball back and connected on a shot just in front of the three-point line to finalize the scoring, with Northeastern on top.

DeRay Wilson and Troy Smith each had 10 points to balance the offense for NJC. Dominguez had eight points and 11 rebounds, while Eric Miller finished with seven points and five boards. Sophomore Kylor Dossett, who played just six minutes late in the second half, was productive in his short stint, going for four points.

The Plainsmen will have a shot time off before the showdown against Western Nebraska Wednesday, Jan. 23 at home.