The Triton College men's basketball team could not overcome a second-half onslaught by Indian Hills Community College in a tough 98-88 loss Jan. 18 at the Collins Center Gymnasium.
Top Warriors scorer Don McHenry scored 18 of his game-high 29 points, while guard Ryan Myers notched 17 of his 21 points after intermission. The pair amassed for eight of Indian Hills' nine second-half three-pointers as the seventh-ranked visitors outscored the 17
th-ranked Trojans 60-44 in the final 20 minutes.
Triton had led by as many as 14 points, at 32-18, midway through the first half. But no offensive output seems good enough to hold off 18-2 Indian Hills, averaging more than 87 points per game with 36.6 percent three-point shooting.
Triton, now 13-5, has never beaten Indian Hills in six all-time meetings. Few opponents do on any court this season. The Warriors are 6-0 on the road.
"We didn't take care of the basketball when we needed to," Triton head coach
John Clancy said of errant second half passes that fed into McHenry's and Myers' scoring bursts. "We probably played 25 complete minutes. There were some good things we did, but did not do enough of the right things against a ranked team."
Most energetic of the Trojans, including the second half, was point guard
Kimahri Wilson. He had a superb all-around numbers with 13 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
Devon Barnes led Triton with 20 points, including four three-pointers.
Keyondre Young had 19 points, while
Ethan Pickett finished with 13 points and four steals.
Triton had to start fast to be in any position to overcome Indian Hills, whose deep roster features seven players averaging at least seven points per game. Wilson, Pickett, Barnes and Young all produced offensively as the Trojans maintained the lead throughout the first half.
But Indian Hills always has numerous offensive runs in its portfolio. Several minutes later in the first half cut the halftime lead to 44-38.
McHenry was only getting warmed up. Leading the Warriors at 13.2 points per game, he began padding his average with consecutive three pointers to open the second half to tie the game. Yet Triton regained the lead and pushed it to 53-46 on a Barnes three-pointer. Moments later, Triton led 58-54 when Indian Hills went on a run of seven straight points to take the lead for good with just under 12 minutes to go.
The Warriors opened the lead to as many as 11 points. The Trojans tried to rally, with Young's jumper cutting the deficit to 92-88 with a minute to go. But they got not closer as Indian Hills kept their road record perfect.
Clancy felt McHenry and Myers had just enough room to set, aim and fire their three pointers in the second half.
"We didn't guard the arc good enough," he said. "We did a great job guarding the arc in the first half."
Enoch Kalambay added 17 while Truth Harris had 16 for Indian Hills, which out-rebounded Triton 51-40.
"We're not far away," Clancy said of readiness to play ranked teams. "But right now we're not good enough and at the end of the day, that's on me. There are no moral victories at Triton College."
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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)
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