NIC men's home streak snapped

COEUR d'ALENE - Entering Saturday's Scenic West Athletic Conference men's basketball showdown with eighth-ranked Southern Idaho, the 13th-ranked North Idaho Cardinals knew they'd have to battle to come away with a home win.

For the first time in nearly two years, the Cardinal men were unable to walk off Rolly Williams Court with a win, as CSI sophomore Darius Smith scored 20 points to lead the Golden Eagles past the Cardinals 86-73, snapping the men's 38-game home win streak in regular season play.

CSI (21-2, 7-1 SWAC) built a 42-26 halftime lead and put the game away on a jumper by Pierre Jackson with 1:30 remaining to go up 81-73.

“It was a typical SWAC game,” CSI men’s coach Steve Gosar said. “It’s never easy to win on the road in this conference. NIC came back and started to hit some shots, but I was proud of my guys for holding it together and getting the win.”

Earlier, the 11th-ranked NIC women (20-2, 6-2 SWAC) pulled away from CSI after shooting 22 percent from the floor in the first half, defeating the 23rd-ranked Golden Eagles 76-49 to remain tied for the SWAC lead with Salt Lake.

CSI (17-6, 4-4) took a 26-24 halftime lead, but was outscored 52-23 in the second half by the Cardinals.

Sophomore Kiki Edwards-Teasley hit a 3-pointer to put NIC up 50-41 with 9:23 remaining and the Cardinals closed the game on a 26-8 run.

“It’s really big for us,” Edwards-Teasley said. “It kind of helps us seal the deal in the league with the tiebreakers with them.”

NIC also defeated CSI 83-76 on Jan. 9 in Twin Falls.

MEN: NIC shot 12 of 33 from the field in the first half, including 1 of 10 from beyond the 3-point line.

“You’ve got to give CSI some credit,” NIC coach Jared Phay said. “We couldn’t get a shot to drop in the first half. If we could have done that, it could have gotten us going a little earlier in the game.”

NIC (19-4, 4-4) battled back in the second half to move to within 79-73 on a 3-pointer by Ameer Shamsud-din with 1:49 remaining.

“I was proud of our guys’ effort to get back into the game,” Phay said. “We played hard, but we needed the ball to go in and it didn’t tonight.”

The loss is the first at home in conference play for the NIC men since a 72-63 loss to Salt Lake on Jan. 22, 2009.

“This is a great place to play a game,” Phay said. “It’s a great environment. The bigger picture is to continue to get better and better going toward the regional tournament.”

Jackson scored 17 points for CSI (21-2, 7-1).

“We’re a good shooting team from the line,” Gosar said. “We’ve got some guys that can knock down some shots.”

NIC travels to Colorado Northwestern on Friday, and CSI travels to Eastern Utah.

SOUTHERN IDAHO

Jerrold Brooks 4-10 1-2 13, Pierre Jackson 5-12 7-8 17, Fabyon Harris 6-10 1-1 16, Terrance Lafayette 0-0 0-0 0, Gerson Espirito-Santo 0-4 4-6 4, Darius Smith 5-9 10-11 20, Mitch Bruneel 2-8 1-2 5, Kenny Buckner 3-6 1-3 7, Chris Patton 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 27-62 25-33 86.

NORTH IDAHO

DeAndre Taylor 3-6 0-0 6, Ameer Shamsud-din 3-7 0-0 7, Jake Owsley 3-4 0-1 6, Michael Hale 6-14 4-5 17, Idris Lasisi 3-9 0-0 6, Tyrone White 4-9 3-4 12, Abebe Dimissie 1-3 0-0 3, Petar Joksimovic 2-8 0-0 4, Anthony DiLoreto 3-4 1-2 7. Totals 30-72 8-12 73.

Halftime — CSI 42-26. 3-point goals — CSI 7-20 (Brooks 4-7, Jackson 0-5, Harris 3-5, Smith 0-1, Bruneel 0-2). NIC 5-24 (Taylor 0-1, Shamsud-din 1-3, Hale 1-4, Lasisi 1-6, White 1-3, Dimissie 1-3, Joksimovic 0-4). Rebounds — CSI 41 (Buckner 7). NIC 44 (Fromm 8). Assists — CSI 6 (Jackson, Harris 2). NIC 13 (Hale 4). Team fouls — CSI 13, NIC 22. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — NIC bench.

WOMEN: After shooting 10 of 44 from the floor in the first half, NIC went 17 of 33 in the second half on the way to its sixth straight win.

“I told our kids at halftime that anyone can shoot the ball,” NIC women’s coach Chris Carlson said. “At halftime, I told them more about scoring the ball when we’ve got a chance.”

NIC, ranked sixth in the nation in free-throw percentage at 71 percent, shot 2 of 7 from the line in the first half, but rebounded to go 12 of 13 in the second half to finish at 70 percent for the game.

“It was a great crowd tonight,” Carlson said. “There was lots of emotion in that first half. We just had to settle down and play basketball.”

CSI, which led 26-24 at halftime, shot 8 of 30 from the floor in the second half and finished with 33 turnovers.

“I thought our defense in the first half was pretty good tonight,” CSI coach Randy Rogers said. “We were making them extend their offense a little bit. The second half, they were catching the ball where they wanted it and making shots.”

CSI fell to Salt Lake 60-58 in Twin Falls on Jan. 22.

“North is the best team in the league right now,” Rogers said. “Chris does a great job with his players. We need to regroup for next week.”

SOUTHERN IDAHO

Kylie Hardison 4-9 0-0 10, Guilhermia El-Mir 0-3 0-0 0, Tayllor Gipson 1-2 3-4 6, Felicity Jones 4-6 2-6 10, Kylee Schlerman 0-2 0-0 0, Taylor Attenburg 0-1 0-0 0, Holly Checketts 1-1 0-0 2, Tina Fakahafua 1-4 0-3 2, Kyler Paria 3-4 1-2 7, Laurel Kearsley 3-7 0-0 6, Mechela Barnes 0-5 1-2 1, Chakala Carthen 0-1 1-2 1, Fanny Cavallo 2-5 0-2 4. Totals 19-50 8-21 49.

NORTH IDAHO

Kama Griffitts 3-11 4-4 11, Chantel Divilbiss 1-6 0-0 2, Camille Reynolds 5-10 0-0 13, Timena Shebala 0-0 0-0 0, Tugce Canitez 5-18 3-3 14, Amy Warbrick 3-9 2-3 9, Korina Baker 1-4 1-4 3, Kiki Edwards-Teasley 6-11 0-0 13, Julia Salmio 0-0 4-4 4, Amanda Carlton 1-3 0-0 3, Deanna Dotts 2-5 0-2 4. Totals 27-77 14-20 76.

Halftime — CSI 26-24. 3-point goals — CSI 3-12 (Hardison 2-3, Gipson 1-1, Schlerman 0-1, Fakahafua 0-1, Paria 0-1, Kearsley 0-2, Barnes 0-3). NIC 8-24 (Griffitts 1-5, Divilbiss 0-3, Reynolds 3-5, Canitez 1-2, Warbrick 1-4, Baker 0-2, Edwards-Teasley 1-1, Carlton 1-2). Rebounds — CSI 44 (Cavallo 6). NIC 47 (Canitez 13). Assists — CSI 6 (Jones 2). NIC 15 (Griffitts 9). Team fouls — CSI 18, NIC 19. Fouled out — Baker. Technical fouls — Carthen.