NIC BASKETBALL: Cardinal men, women head into break with wins

| December 20, 2015 8:00 PM

• WOMEN

North Idaho 80

Colo. Northwestern 56

RANGELY, Colo. — North Idaho College came out on fire on Saturday night, shooting 52.8 percent in the second half to outscore the Spartans 45-22 in the half to win a Scenic West Athletic Conference game.

Maci Benedict finished with 17 points and five rebounds for the Cardinals (11-2, 2-1). Shelby Cloninger had 15 points, three assists and three steals, while Monica Landdeck scored 14 points.

“We got the press going real nice,” NIC coach Chris Carlson said. “Monica and Maci had real nice games tonight. Shelby was tough, but overall we’re real happy. To get two wins on the road is real nice, get used to this league travel. It was real nice. It’s on to Christmas break.”

Colorado Northwestern (8-8, 0-4) was led in scoring by Rachel Prescott, who had 18 points as its only player in double figures.

North Idaho College will play Dec. 28 at the Lower Columbia College Holiday Tournament in Longview, Wash., opening up with Blue Mountain Community College.

NORTH IDAHO

Maci Benedict 7-12 0-0 17, Shelby Cloninger 6-12 1-1 15, Monica Landdeck 6-11 0-0 14, Ebony Norman 3-9 0-0 6, Stormee Van Belle 3-6 2-2 8, Gracie Roberts 2-4 0-2 4, Alyssa Case 1-7 0-0 Kaylee Olson 0-0 0-0 0, Jocelyn Cook-Cox 1-5 2-2 4, Clarissa Smith 0-3 0-0 0, Grace Varcoe 2-5 0-1 4, Charity Marlatt 2-2 2-2 6. Totals 33-76 7-10 80.

COLORADO NORTHWESTERN

Shelby Harvey 0-3 1-2 1, Rylee Thompson 0-2 1-2 1, Rachel Prescott 6-8 3-4 18, Tyra Rodriquez 2-6, 1-2 5, Cylee Tuimaunei 3-8 0-0 7, Taylor Thomas 0-2 1-2 1, Sarah Midgley 3-13 2-2 9, Sierra Reynolds 2, Taylor Martin 1-4 4-4 6, Kelsey Harvey 0-1 0-0 0, Kanani Naipo 0-0 0-0 0, Megan Erickson 1-2 5-6 6. Totals 17-51 16-22 56.

Halftime — NIC 35-34. 3-point goals — NIC 7-28 (Benedict 3-5, Cloninger 2-5, Landdeck 2-5, Norman 0-4, Van Belle 0-2, Roberts 0-1, Case 0-3, Cook-Cox 0-1, Smith 0-2), CNCC 6-19 (Prescott 3-4, Rodriquez 1-2, Tuimaunei 1-4, Midgley 1-8, Harvey 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 41 (Varcoe 6), CNCC 41 (Martin 7). Assists — NIC 9 (Cloninger 3), CNCC 6 (Midgley 2). Team fouls — NIC 19, CNCC 16. Fouled out — Marlatt.

• MEN

North Idaho 88

Colo. Northwestern 72

RANGELY, Colo. — The visiting Cardinals, ranked 13th in the NJCAA, head into the holiday break 15-0 (3-0 SWAC) after a strong second half against the Spartans, who led by two points at halftime.

“It was a tough road trip — a 14-, 15-hour bus ride, so the game was a little sloppy,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “The defense wasn’t up to par, and they’re all excited to get home, so it was hard to keep them focused. We’re just lucky to get out of here with two wins.”

Braian Angola-Rodas scored 24 points, BJ Blake 21 for NIC, which made just 3 of 18 3-pointers against Colorado Northwestern’s zone.

Cameron Coles scored 18 points, and Van Merbin had 10 points and 14 rebounds for Colorado Northwestern (2-16, 0-4).

NIC returns to action Dec. 28-30 when it hosts the Coeur d’Alene Inn-vitational.

NORTH IDAHO

Lucas Antunez 2-5 4-4 8, Brayon Blake 9-17 3-3 21, Braian Angola-Rodas 9-17 6-8 24, Kaleb Warner 2-6 0-0 4, Kyle Guice 3-6 0-0 8, Sam Dowd 2-3 0-0 4, Haywood Irwin 3-7 0-0 7, Trey Burch-Manning 5-6 0-0 10, Zaequan Satterthwaite 0-2 1-4 1, Scott Turner 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 35-71 15-21 88.

COLORADO NORTHWESTERN

Cameron Coles 4-10 8-8 18, Trey Puckett 2-4 0-0 6, Corey Martin 2-6 7-8 12, Van Merbin 3-7 4-4 10, Chris Bel 1-1 0-1 2, Alex Therrien 2-5 2-2 8, Michael 1-2 0-0 3, Velerian Salumu 5-10 3-4 13. Totals 20-45 24-27 72.

Halftime — CNW 39-37. 3-point goals — NIC 3-18 (Antunez 0-1, Angola-Rodas 0-5, Warner 0-4, Guice 2-4, Irwin 1-3, Turner 0-1), CNW 8-16 (Coles 2-3, Puckett 2-3, Martin 1-1, Merbin 0-2, Therrien 2-5, Cooper 1-1, Salumu 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 34 (Blake 9), CNW 32 (Merbin 14). Assists — NIC 9 (Dowd 4), CNW 9 (4 with 2). Fouled out — Antunez, Martin. Total fouls — NIC 24, CNW 21.