The No. 6-ranked Triton College men's basketball team's 14-game winning streak crashed into No. 2 ranked-Indian Hills Community College's 10-game winning streak at the Jorndt Athletic Complex gymnasium on a snowy February 12.
Clash of the titans? May the best of the best teams win?
For a long time, the visuals said otherwise.
The first half was an offensive struggle for both teams as Triton was first to the break 20-point barrier the final minute. But after halftime lectures, the two NJCAA Division I powers picked up the pace, with the Trojans riding Dayjuan Anderson's five three-pointers to carve out a 65-58 victory.
The 20-3 Trojans turned over the 21-5 Warriors' years-long edge. Indian Hills, based in Ottumwa, Iowa, had been 8-1 against Triton in the lifetime record book. But Anderson, who tallied a game-high 25 points, believes the teams should switch places in the national rankings.
"We should be up there (No. 2)," he said. "We feel we're the better team."
In fact, Anderson said the Trojans shouldn't even have three losses.
"I wanted to beat the (won-lost) record for last year and go undefeated," he said. "We have three losses, but I feel we could easily be undefeated right now."
Anderson had to almost take matters into his own hands to classify the first half, in which Triton led just 23-19, as an anomaly. The Trojans average 77 points a game while the Warriors are even higher-powered at 86 per game. But both teams shot just 27 percent before intermission, while the Trojans were just 2-for-16 from three-point range – including one by Anderson.
"Two really good defensive teams," said Triton head coach
Brian Burns. "It was a little bit of a rock fight. Their defense was unbelievable."
Early in the second half, a pair of Anderson treys and a two-pointer gave Triton a 33-25 lead. But Indian Hills quickly caught up and took several leads midway through the second half.
Quinton Perkins II, who paced the Warriors with a team-high 23 points, nailed his fifth three-pointer to tie the game at 54 with under two minutes to go. But Anderson's final three-pointer gave the Trojans the lead for good at 57-54. A driving
Vijay Wallace layup and four free throws by Wallace and
Kaiden Space sealed the victory.
Even after the slow-motion first half, Burns was going to green-light Anderson from long range until he caught fire.
"We're going to shoot them," he said of treys. "I'm biased, but (Anderson's) the best shooter in the country and he's going to shoot them."
Wallace had 10 points and six rebounds.
Peitok Machar was near-dominant in the middle with 11 points, a game-high 13 rebounds and four blocks. Sophomore
Tolu Samuels was a key contributor with 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks in a game-high 36 minutes.
The Trojans will attempt to extend their winning streak to 16 in a row against Kennedy-King College at home at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 15.
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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle) Â
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