Cardinals plow through Snow
COEUR d'ALENE - In what some dubbed redemption weekend, it was fitting that the Cardinal with a second chance helped put his team back into the Scenic West Athletic Conference men's basketball race.
Freshman Petar Joksimovic, starting in place of Tyrone White, scored nine points and grabbed four offensive rebounds as the 17th-ranked Cardinals battled back from a slow start to defeat the Snow Badgers 68-57 at Rolly Williams Court on Saturday.
"I found out five minutes before warmups," Joksimovic said of the start. "I was trying to leave it all out on the floor. We weren't scoring early in the game, but the one thing you can control is how hard you play."
Joksimovic redshirted in NIC coach Jared Phay's first year, then returned after five years to walk on this season. White, who is battling tendinitis, came off the bench and scored 12 points in 20 minutes.
"It was a great team effort," Joksimovic said. "Everyone is really playing well together and starting to play great team basketball."
NIC avenged a 76-72 loss at Snow on Dec. 10.
Earlier, sophomore Kama Griffitts led five Cardinals in double figures as the NIC women, also ranked 17th, blasted Snow 103-55 to move into a first place tie with Salt Lake in the SWAC.
NIC shot 38 of 63 from the floor for 60.3 percent, including 12 of 23 from beyond the 3-point line as the Cardinals avenged a 79-76 loss at Snow to open conference play on Dec. 10.
"I'm happy if we can shoot 40 percent," NIC coach Chris Carlson said. "But 60 percent was pretty amazing today. It was a good win for us. Everyone shot hot tonight."
Camille Reynolds scored 16 and Tugce Canitez had 13 points and 11 rebounds for NIC (19-2, 5-2 SWAC), which hosts Southern Idaho on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
MEN: NIC broke the game open with a 20-2 run to close the first half with a 33-22 lead at halftime. Prior to the final run, NIC was 3 of 15 from the floor for 15 percent to fall behind 20-13.
"We weren't hitting shots to start the game," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "We were guarding and rebounding well, but needed to relax a little on offense. Because we weren't as successful on offense, we weren't playing as hard on defense."
"When we played (Salt Lake and Snow) we didn't have Petar and Nick," Phay said. "They've been huge for us this week and they continue to work and work and work on the floor."
7-foot-1 freshman Anthony DiLoreto had eight blocks for NIC (19-3, 4-3).
UNLV transfer DeShawn Mitchell, who leads the SWAC in scoring at 26.7 points per game, was held to seven for Snow (14-8, 3-4).
"Our guys did a great job on him," Phay said. "We tried to deny him the ball and stop his dribble penetration."
Travis Wilkins scored a game-high 25 points for Snow, which hosts Colorado Northwestern on Friday.
NIC turns its attention to hosting conference rival Southern Idaho, which defeated Salt Lake on Saturday in Twin Falls.
SNOW COLLEGE
DeShawn Mitchell 2-10 2-4 7, Mitch Frei 1-2 0-1 2, Brandon Vega 5-9 1-2 14, Renato Portugal 0-4 2-2 2, Dominique Youmans 0-0 0-0 0, Justin Yardley 0-0 0-0 0, Reggie Shaw 1-3 2-2 5, Sam Hoopes 0-1 0-3 0, Mason Sawyer 0-4 0-0 0, Travis Wilkins 9-14 3-4 25, Vinny Novaes 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 19-52 10-18 57.
NORTH IDAHO
DeAndre Taylor 0-2 0-2 0, Ameer Shamsud-din 1-8 0-0 3, Jake Owsley 0-2 0-0 0, Michael Hale 3-9 6-6 12, Idris Lasisi 5-8 0-0 12, Nick Fromm 5-10 2-7 12, Tyrone White 4-8 4-5 12, Abebe Dimissie 1-4 1-2 3, Petar Joksimovic 4-9 0-0 9, Anthony DiLoreto 1-6 3-4 5. Totals 24-66 16-26 68.
Halftime - NIC 33-22. 3-point goals - Snow 9-17 (Mitchell 1-3, Vega 3-3, Shaw 1-3, Sawyer 0-1, Wilkins 4-7). NIC 4-17 (Taylor 0-2, Shamsud-din 1-5, Hale 0-1, Lasisi 2-5, White 0-1, Dimissie 0-1, Joksimovic 1-2). Rebounds - Snow 42 (Novaes 10). NIC 42 (Fromm 8). Assists - Snow 7 (Vega 4). NIC 9 (Hale 3). Team fouls - Snow 21, NIC 15. Fouled out - Novaes. Technical fouls - Novaes, DiLoreto.
WOMEN: Freshman point guard Korina Baker had 10 points and six steals as NIC forced 16 turnovers and limited the shorthanded Badgers to 22 of 60 from the floor.
Former Lakeland High standout Camille Reynolds had 16 points for NIC, which hosts Southern Idaho on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
"Everyone came ready to play tonight," Reynolds said. "It was a really fun game to play in."
Snow was without starting point guard Allie Finch, who also missed Thursday's game at Southern Idaho with a sprained ankle. Another starter, Dani Lockhart, will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL.
Finch is expected back for Snow (13-7, 3-4) against Colorado Northwestern on Friday in Ephraim, Utah.
SNOW COLLEGE
Cassie Holmes 1-3 2-4 4, Christina Augustin 1-4 0-1 2, Carolina Rebolledo 2-4 0-0 4, Ballie Reynolds 2-10 3-4 7, Kelsi Wells 5-13 2-2 12, Erica Martinez 5-13 1-2 12, Jaquel Christensen 2-2 1-1 5, Meissa Diop 3-8 1-4 7, Lindsay Card 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 22-60 10-18 55.
NORTH IDAHO
Kama Griffitts 6-11 6-7 20, Chantel Divilbiss 4-4 0-0 9, Camille Reynolds 6-9 0-0 16, Timena Shebala 1-1 0-0 3, Tugce Canitez 4-10 4-5 13, Amy Warbrick 2-3 0-0 4, Korina Baker 4-5 0-0 10, Kiki Edwards-Teasley 3-4 4-4 10, Julia Salmio 4-5 1-1 9, Amanda Carlton 1-5 0-0 3, Deanna Dotts 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 38-63 15-17 103.
Halftime - NIC 45-27. 3-point goals - Snow 1-5 (Reynolds 0-2, Martinez 1-2, Diop 0-1). NIC 12-23 (Griffitts 2-3, Divilbiss 1-1, Reynolds 4-6, Shebala 1-1, Canitez 1-2, Warbrick 0-1, Baker 2-3, Salmio 0-1, Carlton 1-4, Dotts 0-1). Rebounds - Snow 28 (Rebolledo 6). NIC 40 (Canitez 11). Assists - Snow 3 (Wells, Martinez, Diop 1). NIC 14 (Canitez 6). Team fouls - Snow 13, NIC 13. Fouled out - none.