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| March 11, 2018 12:32 AM

EVERETT, Wash. — RayQuan Evans totaled 27 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and six steals as North Idaho College broke out to a big lead in beating Lower Columbia 86-68 in the first round of the Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament late Saturday night at Everett Community College.

NIC (22-8) plays host Everett (26-4) tonight at 8. Everett is the No. 1 seed from the North Region.

Jarod Greene added 17 points for NIC, which led by as much as 28 points in the second half before Lower Columbia (20-9) pulled to within 10 points.

NIC, the third seed from the East Region shot 56.5 percent (35 of 62) from the field. Lower Columbia, the second seed from the West Region, shot 35.6 percent (21 of 59).

Brandon Cotton led Lower Columbia with 17 points.

NORTH IDAHO

RayQuan Evans 11-16 5-7 27, Jalen Burkett 3-7 4-4 11, Charles Williams 1-5 0-0 2, Jarod Greene 8-9 1-1 17, Tyler Brimhall 6-12 1-5 15, Aushanti Potts-Woods 4-9 0-0 9, Iain McLaughlin 2-3 0-0 5, Jacob Cowley 0-0 0-0 0, Seth Christiaens 0-1 0-0 0, Keegan Crosby 0-0 0-0 0. Totlas 35-62 11-17 86.

LOWER COLUMBIA

Devonte Dennis 0-2 0-0 0, Kyle Daugherty 3-8 2-2 10, Brandon Cotton 5-10 7-8 17, Dwayne Stewart 1-2 0-0 2, Spencer Sweet 5-15 0-0 12, Seth Hall 0-2 0-0 0, Said Ali 1-5 0-0 2, Donald Scott 3-7 2-2 8, Wesley Gilbert 1-5 8-10 10, Alec Canete-Hall 1-2 0-0 3, Bricin Ford 1-1 2-2 4. Totals 21-59 21-24 68.

Halftime — NIC 42-21. 3-point goals — NIC 5-16 (Evans 0-1, Burkett 1-2, Williams 0-2, Brimhall 2-4, Potts-Woods 1-5, McLaughlin 1-2), LC 5-27 (Dennis 0-1, Daugherty 2-5, Cotton 0-4, Sweet 2-11, Hall 0-1, Ali 0-2, Scott 0-1, Canete-Hall 1-2). Rebounds — NIC 35 (Evans 10), LC 31 (Gilbert 9). Assists — NIC 18 (Evans 7), LC 8 (Cotton, Ford 3). Fouled out — none. Total fouls — NIC 19, LC 13.