THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Nov. 19, 2014
There's a few signs that it could be a good year for the North Idaho College men's basketball program.
From what some visiting coaches have said, they're one of the most unselfish groups they've seen.
They're quick.
And if nights like Saturday are any indication, they can score some points.
THE TEAM, fresh off beating Salish Kootenai College of Pablo, Mont., 80-68 with only eight healthy players last Tuesday, romped to a 132-66 win over that same team the following Friday at Rolly Williams Court.
That's right, 132 points.
Two players, Jordan King (37 points) and Jamaal Robateau (32 points) had over 30 points, and the team made 18 3-point field goals in the game.
"The shots just kept falling and the guys were kind of feeling it tonight," Symons said. "We were able to get a couple of baskets and things seemed to work really well."
It was the most points the team has scored since a 124-84 win against Salish Kootenai in Coeur d'Alene on Nov. 2, 2010.
Last Friday, NIC made 43 of 63 shots, and missed 10 free throws in the game, compared to Salish, which missed 40 shots from the floor.
The Cardinals have won four straight since a 89-85 loss to Sheridan (Wyo.) College on Nov. 1, with the quality of opponents going up in a couple of weeks.
"We've had some leads over the first four or five games, but had a tough time finishing games," Symons said. "It was nice to finish a game early. This was the first time we've been 100 percent all season."
NIC competes in a tournament at Portland Community College this weekend, facing Chemeketa of Salem, Ore., on Friday before taking on the host school on Saturday.
THE IDEA of having 24 straight hours of college basketball on the ESPN family of networks sure seemed like a great one this time around.
Having the Connecticut women's 47-game win streak snapped at Stanford in overtime, Gonzaga overwhelming visiting Southern Methodist in the second half at Spokane, and finishing the night with a pair of top five teams, Kansas (No. 5) and Kentucky (No. 1) in Indianapolis.
Staying up late to watch Saint Mary's and Hawaii didn't quite happen, but area fans will get a chance to see what they're up to later on in the season.
I'd love to see the powers that be at ESPN try to put something like this together at the start of the college football season, capping the weekend with a game between Alabama against Florida State, or even Oregon taking on whoever they've got to play to prove they belong in the college football playoffs.
That won't happen anytime soon in football, with every team in the nation almost being afraid to take on a tough challenge with only a short amount of time, whereas with basketball, it's a long season and there's plenty of time to bounce back.
So far, those bounces have been pretty good.
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.