Trojans Show Offensive Promise but Fall in Conference Opener to Independence

Independence Community College’s perimeter shooting proved the difference Wednesday night as the Colby Community College Trojans dropped their KJCCC opener, 102–87, inside the Colby Event Center on November 19.

The Pirates entered the matchup ranked seventh in the KJCCC preseason poll and immediately showed why, shooting 59 percent from the field and 48.3 percent from three. Independence built a 47–42 halftime lead and continued its momentum throughout the second half to seal the win. Colby, meanwhile, shot a solid 47 percent and turned the ball over just 12 times, but could not keep pace with Independence’s rhythm offensively.

Trojans head coach Jerrod Stanford said the defensive breakdowns were the key factor.

“We felt like we had guys unprepared in the scout,” Stanford said. “Their catch-and-shoot guys were getting on-time, in-rhythm threes when that’s a huge focal point of our defense. Every single time somebody catches the ball, we’re supposed to touch the ball, get our hands on it, get them off balance — and we didn’t do that.”

Independence’s best looks, Stanford noted, came from Colby failing to close out space quickly and allowing clean passing lanes.

“We’ve gotta get closer, we’ve gotta take away space, and we have to put better ball pressure on the passer so those passes aren’t so clean,” he said. “Teams are getting in too good of a rhythm offensively against us, and they’re tearing us apart.”

Despite the defensive struggles, Colby produced several bright spots on the offensive end.

Freshman guard Aliou Diallo led the Trojans with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting and earned 10 free throw attempts. D.J. Cason added 19 points, including three made threes, while logging a team-high 36 minutes. Gabe Njenga had another strong outing off the bench, scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds, with seven of them coming on the offensive glass.

Giannis Asimakopoulos added 9 points and 8 rebounds, and Elias Agba finished with 8 points on an efficient 4-of-6 shooting night. Colby also won the overall rebounding battle 30–26.

Stanford said those stretches of offensive execution show what the team is capable of when locked in.

“The times we did what we were supposed to do, we got on runs. We got back in the game. We took care of the basketball,” he said. “We were able to show the guys a lot of positives on the offensive end. If we keep doing those things — and fix the defensive side — we’re going to be really hard to beat.”

Independence was powered by 31 points from Trae Lewis, who hit seven threes, while David Wilson added 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Sterling Knox contributed 8 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds to lead an offense that recorded 22 total assists.

“We’ve gotta help them find out what they need to do and how to do it,” he said. “We just need to keep building habits, keep competing, and fix the little details. If we do that, we’ll get to where we want to be.”