Five In Double Figures As Tritons Win Thriller Over Northeast at Hodges
Continuing to battle for the third seed in the upcoming ICCAC Region 11 Tournament, the Triton Men (16-11, 9-8 conference) won their fourth consecutive game in a conference thriller with Northeast at Hodges Fieldhouse on Wednesday (2/19) night.
Leading by ten at half, and as many as 13, the Tritons found themselves down by one when Daviyon Gaston came up with an offensive rebound and put back with :12 seconds left to take the lead. The Tritons would force the Hawks into a tough contested shot and then had a big deflection as time expired to seal the 89-88 victory.
"That was a battle. A must win for us," said Triton Head Coach, Ryan Kirsch following the win. "Northeast played really well. Really hard. It wasn't a pretty game. Lots of fouls on both sides. The flow of the game just never favored our style of play."
Five Tritons scored in double figures with Jordan Cain leading the way with 14 points and six rebounds. Riley Edwards and Irakli Akhalaia both added 11 points with Daviyon Gaston and Terrius Walker each scoring 10 points from the bench. Walker also pulled down seven rebounds. The Triton bench combined to score 54 points.
"I love seeing that kind of contribution from so many players at this point of the year. We need that on any given night," said Kirsch. "Riley came off the bench and hit three really big shots for us in the first half. He works hard and is always ready. Terrius hit four big free throws at the end. We made them when we needed them."
The win moved the Tritons to 9-8 in the ICCAC and third in the conference standings with four teams (Ellsworth, Iowa Lakes, NIACC, and Iowa Western) tied at 8-8 behind them. The Tritons final conference game is on Wednesday (2/26) against Western Iowa Tech in Sioux City, IA.
"We're proud to get the win in the fashion we did. We showed some resiliency," said Kirsch. "We want W's any way we can get them right now. We're still fighting for third in the conference. We have two important regular season games left and want to carry some momentum into the post season."
Up next for the Tritons is "Sophomore Day" on Saturday (2/22) as Dakota County visits Hodges Fieldhouse for the final regular season home game. Tip is set for 3:00 PM.
Statistical Leaders vs. Northeast –
Points – Jordan Cain (14), Riley Edwards (11), Irakli Akhalaia (11), Daviyon Gaston (10), Terrius Walker (10)
Rebounds – Terrius Walker (7), Jordan Cain (6), Vice Grbic (5), CJ Mitchell (4)
Assists – CJ Mitchell (4), Lane Campbell (4), Daviyon Gaston (4), Irakli Akhalaia (2)
Steals – Daviyon Gaston (3), Six Tritons tied with one.