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  • Erie's God's Gift Achiuwa tries to block the shot of Triton's Darrin Johnson Saturday night during the third-place game of the men's NJCAA Division II National Tournament at DACC. Susan Joy McKinney/Commercial-News

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March 20, 2011

Triton ends up in third

BY CHAD DARE Commercial-News

DANVILLE —  Erie Community College’s God’s Gift Achiuwa was one of the most recognized players in the 2011 NJCAA Division II National Tournament.

The 6-foot-9 sophomore forward had 61 points and 39 rebounds in four tournament games, but Triton coach Steve Christiansen knew the big man was at a disadvantage against one of his guards.

The Trojans went to an all-guard lineup in overtime and Darrin Johnson took advantage of the big guy.

Johnson, a 6-foot-2 sophomore from Chicago, had layups on three straight possessions to propel Triton past Erie 102-98 in the third-place game at the Mary Miller Gymansium

“My shots weren’t falling in the first of second halves,” Johnson said. “My team had me drive to the basket in the overtime. I felt like I had good position on the big man (Achiuwa) and I knew he couldn’t stick with me.”

Christiansen said the strategy was to go with whoever Achiuwa was guarding.

“Achiuwa is huge and he’s great, but he can’t guard a guard, especially one that is as talented as Darrin,” he said. “Darrin is a very talent kid, especially on the offensive end.

“You saw tonight what’s this team is capable of doing, it’s a shame it came a night late.”

Erie coach Alex Nwora wasn’t surprised that Triton went after Achiuwa, who he felt was the subject of some questionable calls.

“It he breathed, they would call a foul on him,” Nwora said. “He then comes down and gets fouled on every possession, but they didn’t call it.”

Nwora, who got a technical foul in the first half, believes his team could have won in regulation.

“We had a chance to win in regulation time, but a couple of questionable calls by the officials, they were very inconsistent and it really hurt us,” Nwora added.

Triton (31-6) rallied in the final minutes to force overtime when Bryant Orange, who had a team-high 24, got a steal on the defensive end and then Tim Traversa’s reverse layup tied the contest at 89-89.

“That was a big one and it was aided by a big defensive stand,” said Christiansen, who wonder before the game which team was going to want it more.

He changed up his pregame routine and told his Trojans there was three keys to victory.

“We talked about playing one last time and playing for each other,” he said. “The second thing we talked about was playing for history. We set the school record with 30 wins and 31 looks a little better.

“The third thing we talked about was that winner goes out and claims third place. We didn’t want to be losers and get handed fourth. I though they played great, it was everything I would hope for in the last game of the season.”

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