NJC men upset by No. 12 seed Trinity Valley
By David
Wilson
Journal-Advocate sports writer
On the same day that the NCAA Men's basketball tournament got underway, it was the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Men's National Championship tournament that would feature the "madness."
Of the six games played on Tuesday in Hutchinson, Kan., one game went into overtime, another into double-overtime, and a total of four lower seeds pulled upset victories. And unfortunately for No. 5 seed Northeastern Junior College, it was one of the higher-seed casualties as the Plainsmen were ousted 88-85 in the second round by No. 12 seed Trinity Valley Community College.
NJC led by as many as 16 points, and had an 11-point lead with 12:36 remaining in the second half, but a rare hot shooting night from the 3-point line and foul line enabled the Cardinals to come back.
"You have to give them (Cardinals) credit. They shot about 30 percent from 3-point range this year and almost shot 50 percent for the game (Tuesday). They hadn't really done that all year," NJC head coach Eddie Trenkle said. "They are about a 68 percent free-throw shooting team, as well, and they shot 87 percent in the second half and were 22 of 30 from the foul line in the game."
In comparison, NJC shot 15 of 16 from the free-throw line on Tuesday and never made it into the double-bonus in the second half.
"If we shoot as many free throws as they do, it's a different story. Both teams were driving the ball hard and there were probably some calls we could have gotten, but we didn't and that's part of life," Trenkle said.
Trinity Valley took its first lead of the game at 77-75 with 3:42 left in the second half and built its advantage up to 85-79 with 1:04 remaining.
NJC sophomore forward Joe Dellenbach, who led all Plainsmen with 17 points off the bench, splashed home one of his four 3-pointers on the night with 41.5 seconds left to cut the deficit to 85-52.
Needing a stop, NJC forced Trinity Valley guard Dedrick Basile to lose the ball out of bounds just seconds after Dellenbach's shot fell, but NJC squandered the opportunity as it turned the ball over on the ensuing possession with the chance to cut the Cardinals' lead to one point or tie.
Trinity Valley went 3 of 4 from the free-throw line in the final seconds to push its lead back up to 88-82 before a Dellenbach 3-pointer dropped at the buzzer to make the final score 88-85.
For most of the first half, and for the first 10 minutes of the second half, it appeared late-game heroics wouldn't be necessary as NJC led by as many as 16 points with 11:01 remaining in the first half at 27-11 after a three-point play by freshman point guard Isaih Cooper.
Trinity Valley rallied back to within one at 35-34 at the 3:19 mark — much in part to its 6 of 10 shooting from the 3-point line — in the first half, but NJC still carried a 42-37 lead into the locker rooms.
"Trinity Valley hit some 3-pointers, but we didn't stop it in transition and one thing you have to do against fast teams is stop them in transition and we didn't," Trenkle said of the Cardinals' run.
The Plainsmen opened the second half strong and built their lead back up to 62-51 on a steal and layup from Cooper before the Cardinals started their comeback trail.
Sophomores Odessa Lear and Duol Mayot each had 16 points in their final game as Plainsmen to join Dellenbach in double-figures.
NJC finishes the season with a 31-4 overall record, was ranked No. 6 in the country in the last national poll in February, and boasted the school's ninth Region IX tournament title, which was its first since 2007.
While the loss was tough to swallow for Trenkle and his team, he praised his eight sophomores and the team for their accomplishments this season.
"I can't say enough about this sophomore group," Trenkle said. "I really think this is the best team I've ever had here (NJC). No question. I think the talent level was up there with the best I've ever had, too, but together they were the best team I've ever had. They competed every day, they played hard, and they worked. They all could have quit and gone to different schools at the end of last season, but they didn't. They decided to come back and make this a special season and they've done that."
Notes: Tip-off for Tuesday's game was pushed back nearly two hours from its original start time, which was 8:30 p.m. Central Daylight time, because of an overtime game in the first game of the day, and a double-overtime game in the third game on the schedule. The Plainsmen and Cardinals started at 10:10 p.m. Central time and didn't finish their game until 12:15 a.m.
Contact David Wilson at 970-526-9285 or dwilson@journal-advocate.com