March 24, 2007

By Anthony Arroyo Journal-Advocate sports reporter

HUTCHINSON, Kan. - Sophomore Omar Leary had his second monster game in a row, going for 28 points, six assists and two steals to help his team knock off the No.1-ranked Indian Hills Community College Warriors 91-67 Friday afternoon.

The Plainsmen also got help from sophomore Shane Edwards, who was full of power jams all game long. Edwards chipped in with 21 points on 9-11 shooting, while the freshman product out of Baltimore, Troy Smith, came off the bench to score 17 points in 22 minutes of action.

"That was the type of game we've played all year long," Head Coach Eddie Trenkle said during the post-game interview session. "We wanted to come out and play with more intensity then they did and I think for 40 minutes we did that."

Northeastern wasted no time getting on the board after starting out Thursday's game with a three minute drought before scoring their first points. After Edwards won the tip, the ball was fed inside to a hungry

Rashad Austin, who dropped in the first bucket of the contest between the two elite teams.

Austin would get into foul trouble within the first two minutes of the game and his minutes were limited because of it.

NJC proved they wouldn't need his inside presence on this day. After the game was locked at eight points, the Plainsmen would begin what ended up being a 14-2 run capped off by a three-pointer by Smith before their opponent was forced to call a timeout. Sophomore LaTravis Turner, who finished with nine points and eight rebounds, opened the lead to double-digits for the first time after he tipped in a miss free throw by Austin.

Northeastern would hold on to a comfortable 36-24 lead entering halftime. "I told the guys that you guys wanted to play the big dogs and although it wasn't in the semifinal game, it was still a big game for us," Trenkle said. "All the credit goes to these guys, despite losing that first game, they gathered together to make sure we play in that fourth game."

The first bucket of the second half belonged to Shane Edwards and the team never seem to let up one bit. With the game score at 44-29, Leary felt the touch from the land of three, connecting on three consecutive from downtown to open up a 24-point lead in the matter of 42 seconds.

Omar would later complete a traditional three-point play and Edwards dropped in a dunk to push the lead to 58-31.

"All year I've felt that I could be a special type of leader to this team," Leary said. "We have so much talent on this team that I realize when I can step up and make a couple shots in a row for my team, or play the role getting everyone else involved. I was feeling it and I wanted to ride it out as long as I could."

After a couple timeouts, Edwards began to take the game over, flying high over the rim to slam a couple down for the fans watching on hand. Shane also shot 3-4 from the free throw line before sitting down when he picked up his fourth foul of the game.

"I just come out and play hard every game," Edwards said. "I struggled a bit the first two games, but I put that behind me and keep pushing on. It's a team game, so I know if I'm playing good team ball and playing solid defense, the offense will naturally come."

By the two minute mark in the contest and NJC up 87-60, coach Trenkle cleared the bench. Although it was brief, everybody played at least one minute. Most of the bench damage came from Smith however, shooting 4-5 from the field and going a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe.

"It's my job to come off the bench and get things going," Smith said. "We have a lot of talent on this team, so there is no need for me to start. I just come off the bench, play good defense and grab some rebounds and the points just come."

The winner of the consolation bracket will take home seventh place honors back to there hometown. Northeastern will play Southwest Tennessee, a team that has compiled a 27-7 mark up to this point this year. The game will be on Saturday at noon.

"The kids play hard, don't listen to a thing I say but take good shots and take it to the basket and get results," Trenkle joked. "After losing that first game, it was our goal to make it to the consolation final, so the kids will be fired up and ready to go against a tough team."