Cardinal men oust Snow at Region 18 tournament
TWIN FALLS - After going from the top-ranked team in the NJCAA to the fifth-seed in the Region 18 tournament, the North Idaho Cardinal men's basketball team got defensive at the right time.
Sophomore Idris Lasisi scored a game-high 25 points as the fifth-seeded North Idaho Cardinals rolled past fourth-seeded Snow College 79-65 to advance to the semifinals of the Region 18 men's basketball tournament at Southern Idaho Community College in Twin Falls.
"Idris is peaking at the right time," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "We got a chance to rest him late tonight, or he would have hit some more shots tonight."
NIC (23-8) will face the top-seeded CSI Golden Eagles (26-4) tonight at 6:30 (PST), with their previous matchup being won by CSI 76-71 on Feb. 19 in Twin Falls.
"It should be a fun one," Phay said. "It's exciting to have the game in their place. It will be a packed gym. This is what you coach and play for."
NIC jumped out to a 39-23 halftime lead after holding Snow to 6 of 18 from the floor. NIC had 19 points off turnovers and led by as much as 29 points in the second half.
"I was really happy with our defensive effort tonight," Phay said. "It was an all-around good team effort tonight. I thought we shared the ball well tonight and executed our offense well tonight and played a great team game."
Abebe Dismissie, Tyrone White and Ameer Shamsud-din scored 10 points apiece for NIC.
Brandon Vega scored 21 for Snow, which concludes the season 18-13.
NORTH IDAHO
DeAndre Taylor 2-3 1-3 6, Nate Clinton 0-2 0-0 0, Zach Peterson 0-0 1-2 1, Ameer Shamsud-din 2-7 4-4 10, Jake Owsley 1-2 0-0 2, Michael Hale 1-4 0-0 2, Charlie Gouin 0-0 0-0 0, Idris Lasisi 9-12 4-4 25, Nick Fromm 2-3 3-3 7, Conner White 0-0 0-0 0, Tyrone White 4-11 2-3 10, Abebe Dimissie 4-10 0-0 10, Petar Joksimovic 1-7 2-2 4. Totals 26-61 17-21 77.
SNOW COLLEGE
Mitch Frei 4-8 4-5 12, Brandon Vega 8-12 5-7 21, Dominique Youmans 0-0 0-0 0, Justin Yardley 0-1 2-2 2, Sam Hoopes 2-5 1-2 5, Mason Sawyer 3-7 6-7 13, Travis Wilkins 0-8 6-6 6, Darrick McIntosh 0-0 1-2 1, Vinny Novaes 1-4 3-5 5. Totals 18-45 28-36 65.
Halftime - NIC 39-23. 3-point goals - NIC 8-27 (Taylor 1-2, Clinton 0-1, Shamsud-din 2-5, Hale 0-1, Lasisi 3-5 T. White 0-4, Dimissie 2-4, Joksimovic 0-5). Snow 1-14 (Frei 0-1, Vega 0-1, Yardley 0-1, Hoopes 0-1, Sawyer 1-4, Wilkins 0-6). Rebounds - NIC 35 (T. White 7). Snow 33 (Frei 11). Assists - NIC 17 (Hale 5). Snow 7 (Sawyer, Wilkins 3). Team fouls - NIC 25, Snow 20. Fouled out - Hoopes.
Times PST
At College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls
Thursday
1 p.m. - No. 3 Salt Lake 84, No. 6 Colorado Northwestern 52
6:30 - No. 5 North Idaho 79, No. 4 Snow 65
Friday
1 p.m. - No. 2 Eastern Utah (23-7) vs. Salt Lake (24-7)
6:30 - No. 1 Southern Idaho (26-4) vs. North Idaho (23-8)
Saturday
Championship
6:30 p.m. - Friday's winners
Thursday
No. 3 Southern Idaho 92, No. 6 Colorado Northwestern 60
No. 4 Snow 63, No. 5 Eastern Utah 59
Friday
11 a.m. - No. 2 North Idaho (26-3) vs. Southern Idaho (23-8)
4:30 p.m. - No. 1 Salt Lake (23-4) vs. Snow (17-12)
Saturday
Championship
4 p.m. - Friday's winners