Hale leads NIC in opener
<p>North Idaho College point guard Michael Hale III slips past the arms of Salish Kootenai College defenders attempting to block the lane during the first half of Tuesday's game.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Sophomore point guard Michael Hale scored 22 of his game-high 32 points in the first half as the third-ranked North Idaho Cardinals defeated the Salish Kootenai Bison 124-89 in the men's basketball opener for both at Christianson Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
Former Lake City standout Nick Fromm had 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting for NIC, which travels to Miles City, Mont. on Thursday.
"I thought Nick and Jake (Owsley) were big for us with their ability to run the floor," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "That's one of our goals every night to be able to outwork the other team's bigs."
Dennis Sangrey had 29 points for Salish Kootenai.
SALISH KOOTENAI
TJ LaFromboise 1-3 0-0 2, Dennis Sangrey 10-15 0-0 29, Sonny Eppinette 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Williams 0-3 0-0 0, Marvin Lewis 10-20 3-5 27, Ralston Moore 3-9 0-0 8, Stephan Rowe 0-0 0-0 0, Jerimi Rutherford 0-0 0-00, Josh Finn 3-5 0-0 8, Joe Chartraw 1-5 5-9 7, Charles Walking Child 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 30-69 12-18 89.
NORTH IDAHO
Ameer Shamsud-din 4-9 3-3 13, Jake Owsley 2-7 1-2 5, Michael Hale 10-13 9-9 32, Charlie Gouin 1-3 1-2 4, Idris Lasisi 1-4 2-2 5, Nick Fromm 8-10 4-4 20, Conner White 1-2 1-2 3, Tyrone White 6-11 0-0 14, Abebe Dimissie 7-9 1-2 16, Peter Joksimovic 0-1 0-0 0, Rafail Tsourakis 1-2 0-0 2, Anthony Diloreto 4-4 2-2 10.
Halftime - NIC 53-41. 3-point goals - SKC 17-39 (LaFromboise 0-1, Sangrey 9-14, Enright 0-1, Williams 0-1, Lewis 4-11, Moore 2-5, Finn 2-2, Chartraw 0-2, Walking Child 0-2). NIC 10-24 (Shamsud-din 2-4, Hale 3-3, Gouin 1-3, Lasisi 1-3, C. White 0-1, T. White 2-6, Dimissie 1-2, Joksimovic 0-1, Tsourakis 0-1). Rebounds - SKC 29 (Sangrey 6), NIC 47 (Dimissie, Fromm, Hale 7). Assists - SKC 6 (Finn, Lewis 2), NIC 20 (Hale, T. White 4). Team fouls - SKC 24, NIC 17. Fouled out - none.