Missouri Sweep puts Triton in Top 25

With the abbreviated season and lack of NJCAA Division I opponents within travel distance for the Triton College men's basketball team to schedule, their trip to Missouri to play State Fair and Moberly was key to help boost their resume. The Trojans made the most of their opportunity to travel out of state and picked up a pair of victories defeating State Fair 91-79 Feb. 5 and Moberly 81-76 on Feb. 6. The two wins earned Triton a No. 23 ranking in the latest NJCAA Division I released Feb. 8.

In the win over State Fair, the Trojans took control in the second half to break a 46-all halftime tie. Kejuan Clements lead Triton with a game-high 32 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field. The Simeon graduate added seven rebounds and three assists.

Morgan Taylor finished with 18 points. Juwon Carpenter and DJ Patrick each scored 12 points for the Trojans.

The next night against Moberly was a game of runs in a back and forth contest. The Greyhounds enjoyed a 38-37 halftime lead. Then the Trojans came out of the gate strong to open the second half to build a 54-43 advantage with just under 13 minutes to play.

Moberly would use a 12-0 run to grab a 73-65 lead with six minutes left. But the Trojans closed the contest on a 16-3 run and despite shooting 24-of-37 from the free throw line, made all six attempts the final minute of the contest to slam the door.

Patrick was the top Triton scorer with 25 points, including five three-pointers. Carpenter, a Moberly transfer had quite a return with 17 points and 16 rebounds, Clements and Taylor had 12 points apiece.

"I'm very proud of the way our guys battled against two excellent programs," said Triton head coach Steve Christiansen. "Both Matt Brown (State Fair) and Pat Smith (Moberly) are outstanding coaches and class acts. It was really exciting to square up against such quality competition and when you like your team as much as we do you are excited to see how your guys stack up to theirs. These were tough tests and although I'd give us passing grades, we certainly have many areas to improve upon."

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