It was not the start that the Triton men's basketball team had in mind Nov. 8 when they hosted Sauk Valley Community College at the Collins Center in a non-conference match-up. Off the strength of nine three-point field goals, the visitors from Dixon hung around trailing only 41-39 at halftime. However, Triton responded with a 13-4 spurt the first four minutes of the second half en route to a 54-point outburst to take down the Skyhawks 95-75. Triton is a perfect 3-0 to open the new season and increases their Collins Center winning streak to 56 games.
The Trojans just shot 2-of-15 from the field at the onset of the game and trailed Sauk Valley (1-3) 10-4 with 14:11 to play in the first half before head coach
Steve Christiansen called a timeout to regroup the troops. Triton then battled back to take their first lead since 2-0 when
Najee Brown-Henderson connected on one of five three-pointers he made. The freshman out of Detroit led the Trojans with 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field. The Skyhawks stayed close thanks to their guard Riley Mehrens who nailed five from downtown in the first half.
But Triton came out more aggressively after halftime as their pressuring defense and depth wore down Sauk Valley and Mehrens as he only made one three-pointer in the second half. Mehrens led the Skyhawks with 21 points.
Sophomore
Deonta Terrell also had a strong offensive night for the Trojans with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field.
Creig Atkins scored 10 points off the bench for Triton.
Issaiah Hayes dished out nine assists.
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