Trojans punch ticket to 'Hutch' in winning Midwest District crown

The Triton College men's basketball team has reached the NJCAA Division I national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan., beginning March 24 via an assured berth from its first Division I District championship earned the hard way.
 
The Trojans (31-2) felt they recovered from what was akin to a boxing match near-knockout in their national tourney-clinching 84-81 victory over Moberly Area Community College (Mo.) on Saturday, March 16, at the Jordnt Athletic Complex gymnasium for the Midwest Distrcit title. They had staggered under the unexpected punches of 11 (out of 18 total baskets) first-half three-pointers that put the favored hosts nearly on the mat with a 12-point deficit.
 
"We looked at it just like a fight," said Trojans guard Dior Conners, a big contributor with 12 second-half points out of his team-leading 18.  "They hit us in the mouth first. When we hit back, we hit harder.
 
"We knew we had to go on a run and we did."
 
Seventh-ranked Triton did come out of halftime swinging, going on a 13-1 run that tied the game. But more work had to be done.
 
The Trojans and Greyhounds then were locked in a tight game in which Triton did not take its first lead until less than eight minutes remained. And the fighters went a full 15 rounds, with the decision not finalized until a potential game-tying Moberly shot bounced off the rim at the final buzzer.
 
"It wasn't pretty the whole time, but we found a way," said Triton head coach Brian Burns, who joins predecessors John Clancy and Steve Christiansen in piloting the Trojans to national tournament appearances in the past decade.
 
Finding a way meant involving most of the roster in the comeback as Moberly was able to hold leading scorer Amar Augillard to just 12 points, ten below his average.
 
The Trojans needed all of halftime to regroup and recover from the blows of the Greyhounds' three-point barrage. Six Moberly players accounted for the 11 treys in 20 attempts. Moberly (25-7) was no slouch from beyond the arc, shooting 36 percent, just percentage points less than Triton, one of the top three-point shooting teams in the country.
 
The Greyhounds thus were able to jump out to a 15-6 lead, building it to the eventual 47-35 margin at halftime. Burns hoped to coach a run that would cut the lead in half six minutes into the second half. But the determined Trojans outpaced his schedule.
 
Conners' three-pointer completed the 13-1 surge and forged Triton's first tie of the game. The teams battled for an edge until AJ Dixon's basket gave Triton its first lead at 66-65. Another Conners three-pointer boosted the edge to 71-67 shortly afterward.
 
Moberly tied the game again at 81-81 with 1:10 left. Then, in an amazing sequence, sixth man Tolu Samuels fell to the floor and could not get up while play continued 5-on-4 toward the basket. But the Greyhounds missed the shot. Dylan Williams then shot a long pass to Samuels, who somehow got to his feet and made a layup for the lead with 30.9 seconds to go.
 
With 4.9 seconds left, Moberly guard Xavier Sykes, an 85 percent foul shooter, missed the first of two free throws. He intentionally tried to miss the second shot so his teammates could snare the rebound for another shot, but the ball bounced off the backboard without hitting the rim to give Triton possession. Guard William Scott made another free throw for the final score before the desperation final Greyhounds shot.
 
Moberly cooled off in three-pointers, making just two in the second half. Burns credited some adept defensive switching for turning off the barrage.
 
Dixon finished with 15 points, while Williams had 13 with a team-leading eight assists. Samuels had 12. Backup Ilija Varajic had a trio of three pointers crucial in the comeback. Akili Evans, who had just one three-pointer, led Moberly with 21 points.
 
Burns got the first big notch on his belt winning the District in his first season as coach.
 
"It's great," he said. "They earned it. It's a great step for the program. Build on the success of Steve (Christiansen) and John (Clancy), and add it to our milestones. Be one of the bluebloods."
 
Conners now has achieved the goal that attracted him to Triton in the first place.
 
"It means everything to me," he said. "I told Burns I wanted to go to Hutchinson."
 
Conners has the same attitude of Augillard and other teammates: If not Triton, who else?
 
"Go big or go home," he said. "We're here now, Let's go ahead and win it. I expect to win it."
 
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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)