Nov. 22, 2006

Final Stats

The NJC basketball team survived its first test of the season Tuesday at North Platte to remain undefeated. The Plainsmen got two big free throws from Troy Smith late in the contest to seal a 74-70, road victory.

The Plainsmen improved to 8-0 on the season, 3-0 in conference games. Shane Edwards kept NJC from suffering its first loss by pouring in 22 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.

Sophomore Rashad Austin played a big second half and finished the game with 17 points and eight boards.

Point-guard Omar Leary scored 12 points and handed out nine assists while Smith reached double-digits in scoring with ten off the bench.

Trenkle said several Plainsmen stepped up in different ways to secure the win. "Omar and Mike hit huge three's for us," he said. "Isaac Kuon came in and was a defensive stopper for us and Curtis Ashe hit a big shot."

Trenkle takes his undefeated Plainsmen to the Dodge City Thanksgiving Classic where he will meet a couple familiar faces on the other side of the scorer's table. Trenkle's brother, Brady, is an assistant coach with Dodge City. That contest tips off at 8 p.m. on Friday. Trenkle's other brother, Swede, is the head coach at Hill College. The Plainsmen take on Hill at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

"We're going to have to play great to beat them both," Trenkle said. "They're both big time competitors. They're going to do anything they can to get an edge."

Trenkle said there is a noticeably difference in style and philosophy in his two brothers' teams.

"Brady's team likes to press," Trenkle said. "They'll run and jump you. They try to push the ball up the court and pound it down to the big men."

"Swede's style is more half-court, man-to-man," Trenkle said. "They'll work the shot clock and make you guard them."