Men's Basketball off to 8-0 start

The Thanksgiving break will be a very thankful one for the Triton College men's basketball team. The Trojans are off to an impressive 8-0 start to open the Brian Burns era as head coach after their 97-80 win Nov. 20 in River Grove against Kennedy-King College.

And after not being ranked in the NJCAA Division I preseason poll, Triton is ranked No. 18 three weeks into the season.

Of the eight victories, four are outside the Region 4, including victories over Three Rivers and West Plains at the Iowa/Missouri Challenge.

"We've played well for the most part," Burns said about the start. "I thought we played really good in Iowa (vs. Three Rivers and West Plains). The last two games including tonight we were okay. The team is growing with every game and will continue to get better deeper into the season."

The Trojans offense has been clicking so far, averaging just above 90 points per game. The team is shooting nearly 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range.

"Our ability to shoot the ball has stood out," Burns said. "We've shot it at high clip and the big reason why is us showing unselfishness."

In the win over Kennedy King, Triton shot 55 percent from the field (35-64).

Dylan Williams led the Trojans with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-7 from long range.

AJ Dixon poured in 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Amar Augillard continued his solid start with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

Dior Conners, Tre Bolding and Tolu Samuels scored nine points apiece for Triton. Samuels added a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Trojans will be tested immediately after the holiday break, as they will host No. 20 Southeastern Community College from Iowa Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m.

"They're very good," Burns said of Southeastern. "They have great size and we'll have to be ready to box-out as I expect it to be a physical game. The tempo may be a little slower and we're likely going to have to grind it out in order to win."

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