Cardinal men, women triumph in SWAC openers
RANGELY, Colo. - Keon Lewis scored 16 points and the 13th-ranked North Idaho College Cardinals men's basketball team defeated the Colorado Northwestern Spartans 95-71 on Thursday night in the Scenic West Athletic Conference opener for both schools at Spartan Gym.
NIC (13-1) outscored Colorado Northwestern 52-28 in the second half and pulled away after entering halftime tied at 42. Colorado Northwestern shot 7 of 14 from the 3-point line in the first half.
"Our defensive effort really stepped up in the second half," said NIC coach Jared Phay, whose team lost a game at Colorado Northwestern last year. "We were giving them way too many good looks in the first half and we just picked it up in the second half."
Jalil Abdul-Bassit scored 15 points and Chris Sarbaugh had 12 points and seven rebounds for NIC before injuring his knee in the second half.
"He banged his knee against the wall (under the basket) in the last 10 minutes," Phay said. "So he'll be questionable for Saturday for sure. Jalil was fighting the flu, but played right through it."
Seven players finished in double figures for NIC, which travels to Utah State-Eastern on Saturday in Price, Utah.
Thiago Marcello scored 15 points for Colorado Northwestern (7-9).
In other SWAC action, Utah State-Eastern defeated Southern Idaho 76-61 in Price.
NORTH IDAHO
Jordan McCloud 1-5 2-2 4, Jalil Abdul-Bassit 3-9 7-7 15, Chris Sarbaugh 5-6 1-1 12, Keon Lewis 6-14 4-7 16, Michael Middlebrooks 4-8 3-4 10, Jason Wheelock 0-1 0-0 0, Andrew Baracco 2-2 0-0 5, Mikey Hope 5-9 0-0 11, Dalen Erickson 0-2 0-0 0, James Webb 4-9 1-1 10, Kaj Sherman 4-7 4-4 12. Totals 34-72 21-25 95.
COLORADO NORTHWESTERN
Nathan Terrin 3-8 2-2 10, Ivan Sifuentes 3-7 0-0 7, Thiago Marcello 4-13 3-4 15, Thomas Powers 2-12 2-2 6, Damian Trost 2-6 7-9 11, Jalen Hawkins 0-0 2-2 2, Khalid Smith 6-6 1-3 13, Taylor Yager 2-3 2-4 7, Anthony Papelbon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-55 19-26 71.
Halftime - Tied 42-42. 3-point goals - NIC 6-17 (McCloud 0-0, Abdul-Bassit 2-3, Sarbaugh 1-1, Lewis 0-4, Middlebrooks 0-1, Baracco 1-1, Hope 1-2, Erickson 0-2, Webb 1-3). CNCC 8-22 (Terrin 2-6, Sifuentes 1-1, Marcello 4-8, Powers 0-5, Yager 0-1). Rebounds - NIC 47 (Sarbaugh, Webb 7), CNCC 30 (Powers 5). Assists - NIC 10 (Lewis 2), CNCC 15 (Powers 5). Team fouls - NIC 18, CNCC 19. Fouled out - Abdul-Bassit, Smith.
* WOMEN
North Idaho 49
Colorado Northwestern 38
RANGLEY, Colo. - Sophomore Angela Woods shot 6 of 8 from the field with two 3-pointers as the top-ranked Cardinals beat the Spartans in the Scenic West Athletic Conference opener for both at Spartan Gym.
Hannah Love scored nine points and Danika Johnson had six rebounds for NIC (12-0), which travels to Utah State-Eastern on Saturday.
Jasmine Ransom had 10 points for Colorado Northwestern (11-5).
In other SWAC women's action, Southern Idaho defeated Utah State-Eastern 65-60 in their opener in Price, Utah.
NORTH IDAHO
Angela Woods 6-8 0-0 14, Katie Buskey 1-6 2-2 4, Kabri Emerson 1-2 2-2 4, Georgia Stirton 0-3 0-0 0, Love 3-5 3-4 9, Tori Davenport 0-2 1-2 1, Aimee Durbidge 3-8 0-1 6, Renae Mokrzycki 3-8 0-1 6, Mollie Kramer 1-3 0-2 3, Danika Johnson 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 19-47 8-15 49.
COLORADO NORTHWESTERN
Michelle Blanton 3-8 0-0 6, Attirah Munir 0-0 0-0 0, Madison Peterson 2-5 2-2 6, Desiree Peterson 2-14 0-0 4, Kehana Grayer 1-5 1-3 3, Kayla Strobel 0-2 0-0 0, Jasmine Ransom 3-14 3-4 10, Nyahak Bile 1-3 0-0 2, Kayla Bell 0-0 0-0 0, Darian Page 1-3 1-2 3, Emoney Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Julie Harless 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 15-58 7-11 38.
Halftime - NIC 26-17. 3-point goals - NIC 3-7 (Woods 2-2, Buskey 0-3, Stirton 0-1, Kramer 1-1), CNCC 1-11 (Peterson 0-1, Anderson 0-3, Ransom 1-3, Harless 0-1). Rebounds - NIC 50 (Johnson 6), CNCC 40 (Blanton 4). Assists - NIC 7 (Stirton 3), CNCC 6 (Ransom 4). Team fouls - NIC 19, CNCC 17.