Triton men hold off Malcolm X

The Triton College men's basketball team had their hands full against an improved Malcolm X College squad Dec. 12 at the Jorndt Athletic Complex gymnasium.

The Trojans (7-3) found themselves trailing the Hawks early in the second half before seemingly taking control of the game via a 27-6 run. Still, Triton had to work until the final seconds when Malcolm X staged their own rally before finally succumbing in a 76-67 victory.

Dayjaun Anderson and Vijay Wallace provided the usual offensive heroics with 25 and 21 points, respectively. Anderson nailed back-to-back three pointers midway through the second half to give Triton a 70-53 lead. But the Hawks then scored 12 straight points before an Anderson layup broke their momentum with two minutes left.

Triton did hold Malcolm X way under their usual offensive output. The Hawks (9-4) averaged 97.9 points per game, ranking first in NJCAA Division I, along with almost nine three-pointers per game.

Triton coach Brian Burns gladly accepted the victory, yet had some post-game critiques.

"This is the best Malcolm X team in my seven years here," he said. "We have to be better about being up 17 and keeping it there. I thought we didn't do a good job rebounding. At the half we needed to be up 15 instead of seven."

"We have might to press to get the tempo. We can't go up from 17 to a five-point game in three minutes. We got to clean that stuff up."

That middling halftime lead allowed the Hawks to surge early in the second half to lead 47-43 before Anderson and company got hot.

Sophomore Tolu Samuels had 13 points, while Makeer Makeer added seven. Collin Woods led the Hawks with 22.

Burns knows the 22^nd-ranked Trojans can't take anything for granted. They had lost a pair of road games in southern Illinois versus Region 24 opponents before breaking out with a 92-68 road victory over Wright on Dec. 10 in Chicago.

"We've traveled a lot," Burns said. "We need to settle in and get better, find our stride before the holiday break. We talked about getting to 9-3."

The Trojans finish the 2024 portion of the schedule with road games at Truman College in Chicago and Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon. The season then resumes after the holiday for Triton Jan. 8 at home against Elgin Community College.

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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)