Trail Blazers show toughness in knocking off fourth-ranked Bears

DES MOINES, Iowa — John Wood Community College men’s basketball coach Brad Hoyt schedules games in events such as the DMACC Classic to see if the Trail Blazers can handle the physical and mental challenges.

The answer is quite clear.

This group is on the right path to success.

After beating 20th-ranked Iowa Western by seven points Friday night, the Trail Blazers outlasted previously undefeated and fourth-ranked Des Moines Area Community College 83-75 on Saturday afternoon. JWCC is now 5-2 after its first road victories.

“We were tough,” Hoyt said. “We were tougher than what we’ve been. So we grew up a lot this weekend. Both games were grinds. Really talented, physical teams that out-body us and out-athletic us. We had to grind it and execute a little bit. Great wins on the road.”

Saturday, the Trail Blazers led the Bears 39-35 at halftime and never trailed in the second half.

“The biggest thing today was our pace,” Hoyt said. “I thought our pace offensively was maybe the best it’s been all year, especially from initiating what we do at a much, much quicker pace. What happened is we got them spinning a little bit and we got better shots.”

They made those shots, too. Freshman swingman Jeremiah Talton scored a game-high 32 points, giving him 30 or more points in three of the previous four games with a 26-point effort dropped in there.

“The reality of it is we had the best player on the floor,” Hoyt said. “We got him the ball in different spots and he made some big shots.”

Jenson Whiteman added 16 points

“We had the best minutes we’ve had all year at times,” Hoyt said. “But there’s a lot of things in there to clean up. We still have a lot of work to do.”

The Trail Blazers return to the Student Activity Center at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to face North Central Missouri, which is receiving votes in the latest NJCAA Division II national poll.