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Cardinals rally to win title

| March 19, 2018 12:57 AM

EVERETT, Wash. — Two years into their tenure in the Northwest Athletic Conference, the North Idaho Cardinals have accomplished something no other NIC men’s basketball team has done: finish the year with a tournament title.

NIC rallied from a 20-point second-half deficit to force overtime, then outscored the Peninsula Pirates 16-9 in the extra session for a 90-83 victory in the NWAC men’s basketball championship.

“It’s big for our team, big for our school and big for our program after making the switch (to the NWAC),” Cardinals coach Corey Symons said. “The guys played tremendous and just battled their way back into the game after we were down 20 with about 17 minutes left.

“Peninsula was playing well and hitting a lot of shots, but we got some stops on defense and kept chipping away.”

An 11-0 run, capped by 3-pointers by RayQuan Evans and Aushanti Potts-Woods, pulled NIC into a 60-60 tie with 7:01 remaining in the game. The score was close for the rest of the second half, with Evans sinking two free throws with 8 seconds remaining to send the contest to overtime.

In the extra session, Potts-Woods made two free throws and Iain McLaughlin’s steal led to an Evans layup, putting the Cardinals ahead 80-76. NIC led the rest of the way as a steal by Jalen Burkett and several made free throws iced the win.

Evans (28 points, nine rebounds) was named the tournament MVP, averaging 34 points a game during the two-weekend, four-game tournament. Potts-Woods scored all 23 of his points in the second half and joined Evans on the all-tournament team. McLaughlin added 14 points off the bench for NIC (25-8).

“RayQuan had four unbelievable games in the tournament,” Symons said.

The Cardinals, who moved from the NJCAA to the regionally-based NWAC following the 2015-16 season, won eight of their final 11 regular-season games to qualify for the 16-team NWAC tournament. Led by Evans’ 47-point effort, NIC beat Everett in double-overtime last weekend to advance to the semifinals, then topped the Portland Panthers 79-73 on Saturday to reach the championship.

A turning point during the season was the coaching staff’s decision to pull Charles Williams’ redshirt and move him onto the roster, Symons said.

“We brought him off a redshirt midway through the year, and he was more than willing — he said, ‘Let’s go win a championship,’” Symons said. “He was huge for us — he had to guard the opponent’s best player every night.”

Cameron Burton’s 21 points led a balanced Peninsula offense, as all five starters scored in double-figures for the Pirates (22-11).

NORTH IDAHO 90, PENINSULA 83, OT

NORTH IDAHO (25-8)

RayQuan Evans 11-25 5-7 28, Jalen Burkett 1-10 1-2 3, Charles Williams 2-3 3-3 7, Jarod Greene 1-2 0-0 2, Tyler Brimhall 3-5 0-2 9, Aushanti Potts-Woods 9-21 2-3 23, Iain McLaughlin 6-11 1-2 14, Seth Christiaens 2-5 0-0 4, Keegan Crosby 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-83 12-19 90.

PENINSULA (22-11)

Cameron Burton 7-16 5-6 21, Colby Jackson 5-17 0-0 14, Kaelin Crane 4-9 4-5 13, Trent Warren 4-10 4-4 14, Marky Adams 5-11 3-3 13, Cole Huish 0-2 0-0 0, Eli’sha Sheppard 2-4 0-0 5, James Buckley 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 28-72 16-18 83.

Halftime — Peninsula 41-32. End of regulation — 74-74. 3-point goals — NIC 8-24 (Brimhall 3-5, Potts-Woods 3-11, McLaughlin 1-2, Evans 1-4, Williams 0-1, Crosby 0-1); Pen 11-37 (Jackson 4-14, Warren 2-7, Burton 2-9, Crane 1-1, Sheppard 1-2, Buckley 1-2, Huish 0-2). Rebounds — NIC 50 (Evans 9), Pen 41 (Adams 9). Assists — NIC 14 (Potts-Woods 4), Pen 17 (Jackson 8). Team fouls — NIC 21, Pen 17. Fouled out — Brimhall, Warren. Technical fouls — none. Attendance — 523.