The Atlantic Trojans have back-to-back wins for the first time this season as the Trojans escaped Audubon with a 66-60 victory at Audubon Thursday night. It was a slow start offensively for the Trojans as the Wheelers played a box and one defense on Trojan senior forward Colton Rasmussen. The Wheelers used this strategy two weeks ago as they held Grady Jeppensen to just five points in a Wheeler win. But Rasmussen did a great job early on forcing any bad shots and playing through the flow of the offense. Head Coach of the Trojans Dalton Franken said they expected the Wheelers to run that defense and told Colton Rasmussen to just stay patient and let your teams get you open.

That allowed Trojan big guys Brock Henderson and Gavin McLaren benefitted off the tight defense scoring at the rim early and often that saw the Trojans jump to a double figure lead.  Rasmussen would get scoring in the second quarter with 11 points pushing a Trojan lead to 19 at the halftime break. The third quarter saw much of the as the Trojans rode the offense of McLaren, Henderson, and Rasmussen to a 57-36 lead into the final eight minutes. Looking like a Trojan blowout win was possible the Wheelers turned it on in the final frame and gave Atlantic everything they could handle. The Wheelers went to a full court press that the Trojans struggled with. The Trojans would have five+ turnovers in the final minutes as they watched their 21-point lead evaporate all the way down to five with 2:30 left. Gavin McLaren got a huge basket to settle the nerves of the Trojans, but the Wheelers responded, and it was a five-point Trojan lead with under 30 seconds when Colton Rasmussen made the play of the night. The Trojans up 65-60 turned the basketball over and Audubon’s Aaron Olsen had a chance at a layup and potential and one opportunity, but Rasmussen beat him to the spot and took a huge charge that helped get the basketball back and secure a road victory heading into the Christmas break.

The Trojans have won back-to-back games for the first time under coach Dalton Franken. Coach Franken talks about how big it is going into the break on a high positive note.

The Trojans improve their record to 3-6 on the year and will be back in action in the new year on January 2d when they welcome in Glenwood for a 7:30 tipoff at Atlantic High School.