Shout it out loud

COEUR d'ALENE - After spending the past six games away from Rolly Williams Court, North Idaho College coach Jared Phay wondered if his Cardinals remembered how to shoot on their home baskets.

It took a while, but with a 14-of-26 performance from behind the 3-point line Thursday, the sixth-ranked Cardinals showed they had the touch at home in an 87-78 win over No. 25 Eastern Utah to claim the outright Scenic West Athletic Conference title for the second straight season.

Eastern Utah (20-9, 13-6 SWAC) took a 38-36 lead at halftime after guard Isaiah Williams beat the clock on a jumper with three seconds remaining in the half. North Idaho (25-4, 15-4) outscored the Golden Eagles 51-38 in the second half.

"We'll take it," Phay said. "It was definitely a back and forth game. Once we started getting some stops and rebounds, we were able to get back into the game."

Taylor Stevens kept the Cardinals in the contest in the first half, scoring 14 of his game-high 25 points in the first half.

"The coaches always tell me I've got the green light," said Stevens, who has signed to play at Seattle U next year. "I don't want to get into trouble with them - so I just kept shooting."

Stevens finished 7 of 12 from beyond the 3-point line.

"It feels good," Stevens said of winning the league title. "It hasn't quite sunk in yet. It just felt good to be home."

B.J. Shearry, who was originally in the starting lineup but was exchanged for Stevens before tipoff, finished with 13 points and five blocked shots.

"B.J. was originally going to start tonight," Phay said. "But he wasn't in the locker room right before the game (he was in the trainer's room), so I switched him for Taylor (Stevens). I guess it worked out well for both of them."

All-American Renado Parker rounded out the Cardinals in double figures with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Michael Glover scored 22 points for second-place Eastern Utah, which travels to Southern Idaho on Saturday.

"I thought we played terrible," Eastern Utah coach Chris Craig said. "We got our butts whipped. It was like watching men play boys tonight."

Eastern Utah will host next week's Region 18 tournament, starting on Thursday in Price, Utah. As league champs, NIC has earned a bye into Friday's semifinals.

"We probably won't be playing them again this year if we play like this again," Craig said. "If we play like this again - we'll probably get our butts whipped again. Glover hit some shots for us, but I wasn't happy with anyone defensively tonight."

North Idaho concludes the regular season on Saturday at home against Colorado Northwestern at 5 p.m.

EASTERN UTAH

Michael Glover 9-15 4-6 22, Isaiah Williams 5-14 1-1 13, Cliff Colomon 7-12 0-0 18, Tony Dalton 0-2 0-0 0, Aaron Hawk-Harris 0-2 0-0 0, Terrance Joyner 0-0 0-0 0, Fernando Defarvari 1-1 0-0 2, Chris Mast 0-0 0-0 0, Jonathan Mills 2-6 1-1 5, Nick Thompson 5-10 1-4 13, Vander Joaquim 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 30-67 7-12 78.

NORTH IDAHO

DeAndre Taylor 3-8 0-0 8, Idell Bell 2-4 0-0 6, Renado Parker 4-13 2-6 10, Michael Hale 2-5 1-2 7, Nick Fromm 0-2 0-0 0, Logan Jones 3-5 2-2 9, B.J. Shearry 4-6 5-6 13, Taylor Stevens 8-14 2-3 25, Guy-Marc Michel 4-9 1-2 9. Totals 30-66 13-21 87.

Halftime - CEU 38-36. 3-point goals - CEU 9-22 (Williams 2-10, Colomon 4-6, Dalton 0-1, Thompson 2-4, Joaquim 1-1), NIC 14-26 (Taylor 2-4, Bell 2-4, Hale 2-4, Jones 1-2, Stevens 7-12). Rebounds - CEU 45 (Glover 7), NIC 35 (Parker, Stevens 5). Assists - CEU 13 (Hawk-Harris 7), NIC 23 (Hale 8). Team fouls - CEU 19, NIC 13. Fouled out - none. Technical fouls - Colomon, Bell.

North Idaho 80, Eastern Utah 62: Sophomore Tugce Canitez had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cardinals past the Golden Eagles.

With the win, North Idaho remained in a tie for second place in the SWAC with one game to on Saturday against Colorado Northwestern.

Salt Lake defeated Snow College 62-60 in Ephraim, Utah, to clinch the conference title and No. 1 seed to the Region 18 tournament next week at Eastern Utah.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 44-30 halftime lead, shooting 7 of 15 from the 3-point line in the first half.

"I thought we started pretty well," North Idaho coach Chris Carlson said. "They give us a lot of different looks on defense, but we knew we could hit some open shots. It was nice to hit some of those and finish strong."

Eastern Utah (7-22, 3-16) battled to within 62-50, but could not get any closer.

North Idaho had four players in double figures, with Warbrick adding 15 points, Chantel Divilbiss 12 and Katie Sanders 11.

NIC plays host to Colorado Northwestern on Saturday at 3 p.m.

EASTERN UTAH

Dyana Thurgood 0-0 0-0 0, Patricia Smith 1-3 0-0 3, Savana Gines 0-3 0-0 0, Livnat Alon 2-6 0-0 4, Megan Garvin 1-1 0-0 2, Bruna Diechmann 6-17 3-5 15, Samara Pereira 2-4 0-0 6, Monique Bruggerman 2-7 2-2 6, Stacey Stringham 1-4 1-3 4, Kaylie Robison 8-15 2-2 18, Maddie Hind 2-3 0-0 4, Brook Hiatt 0-3 0. Totals 25-66 8-12 62.

NORTH IDAHO

Chantel Divilbiss 5-9 0-0 12, Camille Reynolds 3-7 0-0 8, Timena Shebala 0-1 0-0 0, Amy Warbrick 5-7 2-2 15, Mariana Lamperti 0-1 0-0 0, KiKi Edwards-Teasley 1-4 2-2 4, Kama Griffitts 2-9 2-2 6, Katie Sanders 4-11 3-3 11, Sadie Lazzarini 1-4 0-0 2, Amanda Carlton 1-1 2-2 4, Deanna Dotts 0-0 0-0 0, Tugce Canitez 6-15 5-5 18. Totals 28-69 16-16 80.

Halftime - NIC 44-30. 3-point goals - CEU 4-9 (Smith 1-1, Gines 0-1, Deichmann 0-2, Pereira 2-2, Stringham 1-2), NIC 8-22 (Divilbiss 2-3, Reynolds 2-4, Warbrick 3-4, Lamperti 0-1, Edwards-Teasley 0-1, Griffitts 0-3, Sanders 0-2, Canitez 1-4). Rebounds - CEU 39 (Robison 10), NIC 45 (Canitez 10). Assists - CEU 14 (Gines 4), NIC 19 (Canitez 5). Team fouls - CEU 16, NIC 12. Fouled out - none.