For the first time since 2002, Lewis & Clark’s men’s basketball team has won the Northwest Conference (NWC) championship and carried the school to nationals. To secure their conference win, they beat Whitworth 71-64 and Whitman 70-57. The national tournament took place in Houston, where LC faced off against University of St. Thomas. Despite our team’s best efforts, St. Thomas pulled ahead with a final score of 67 to 50. This disappointing end aside, the players are excited to get to work on training for next season, with a new, 23-years-coming accomplishment under their belts.
Team captain Ryan Trunkett ’25 expressed pride in the team’s ability to not only make it as far in the championship as they did, but also the emotional connection and trust between teammates that developed over the course of the season.
“We’ve been able to build relationships with each other, and just a strong connection amongst ourselves to where we trust each other as a unit, that we’re able to go in and play for each other — I think that’s the separator right there, we’ve been able to play for each other to achieve our common goal,” Trunkett said.
Trunkett explained that, despite having played at LC for four seasons, there was something special about the group he played with this season. He described the biggest difference as their “togetherness.”
“It just felt different this year. Everyone was bought-in, and we all wanted it really badly,” Trunkett said.
Dre Treadwell ’26 is a transfer student from the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, CA, where he played basketball for two seasons before joining the team at LC. He discussed the challenges the team was able to overcome throughout the season.
“Figuring each other out, in the beginning. Figuring out each others’ play styles, and what roles we have on the team, how to mesh together,” Treadwell said. “Learning how to communicate and talk with each other — you know, you can’t talk to everyone the same. Really, just learning how to play with each other to the point where we mesh and win games.”
Taien Jackson ’26, currently up for the team captain position for next season, described the disappointing finish in Houston but also highlighted the positives for the team as a whole.
“It didn’t turn out how, obviously, we wished it did. We wanted to go out there and get the win, but unfortunately, we just couldn’t pull things together,” Jackson said. “The other team started hitting a lot of tough shots, and we kinda just couldn’t find our groove. I think it was still a super cool experience for everybody to get to go travel across the country and play.”
In terms of what it takes to win a championship and make it to nationals, the players were unanimous in their support of two things: team-building and hard work.
“More than anything, (it took) discipline and grit. Really fighting through all those struggles. I feel like, a lot of teams, if they went through what we went through, the ups and downs, it would be really easy to give in,” Treadwell said. “The biggest thing is that discipline and consistency, really honing in on the details every day.”
Trunkett described this team’s strength as their “versatility” and “togetherness.” Jackson acknowledged their “overall talent,” and Treadwell discussed their “depth,” or the presence of many skilled players.
Jackson seemed optimistic about the team’s chances of winning the championship again next season.
“We have the blueprint, I mean, we’ve done it before so we know what it takes. I think it’s just a matter of getting the team on the same page early on,” Jackson said. “We graduated so many seniors this year, next year we’ll have, like, a whole new face of the team, but, at the end of the day, we still have a bunch of guys who were here this year and know what it takes, so hopefully just to push that into next year, the momentum.”
Treadwell agreed, as did Trunkett.
“(We) kind of know what it takes now. Obviously it hasn’t been done in a while by Lewis & Clark, but just understanding what it takes — all the time, discipline and consistency,” Treadwell said. “I definitely think it’s an obtainable goal. It’s all going to come down to the amount of work we put in and how focused we are.”
LC men’s basketball will be bidding farewell to eight graduating seniors this year, including Trunkett — essentially rotating close to half of the team. Next season will present challenges, but players are optimistic in regards to their chances of performing well again. Until then, the team will focus on their off-season training, consisting of weightlifting and practices, honing their skills for next year’s faceoffs.
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