NIC MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cardinals take No. 1 South Plains to OT before falling

TWIN FALLS — The outcome was tough, but something that North Idaho College men’s basketball coach Corey Symons says his group will grow from. 

South Plains of Levelland, Texas, the No. 1 team in the NJCAA, took the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 51 seconds remaining, and went on to beat the Cardinals 103-102 in overtime in the opening round of the Battle for the Boot on Thursday at the College of Southern Idaho. 

“It’s a tough pill to swallow and we had our chances to win it,” Symons said. “We had our chances to win it late and fell behind and could have crumbled. But I’m proud of the guys. They played hard.” 

NIC trailed by 11 points with 7:38 remaining in regulation, then took a 78-77 lead on a jumper by Dace Pleasant with 3:35 remaining. 

Pleasant finished with 27 points in 31 minutes off the bench for NIC. 

“Dace played great today,” Symons said. “He didn’t have the best weekend last week, so I coached him really hard this week and he responded well. We’ve got a good group of guys, but it’s going to take some time.” 

NIC (1-2) faces Casper (Wyo.) College in a consolation game today at 2 p.m. PST. Casper lost 97-82 to Monroe College of New Rochelle, N.Y., in another opening round game.

Casper (2-1) beat NIC in the season opener for both last Friday in Casper, Wyo. 

Sophomore Vaughn Weems had 22 points and six rebounds and sophomore Tayshawn Colvin had eight points and two assists for NIC. 

Arterio Morris, who started his college career at Texas, then transferred to Kansas before arriving at South Plains, scored 23 points. 

“Tayshawn has been doing a great job at the point for us,” Symons said. “Tayshawn was guarded by Morris all night and only had one turnover.” 

NORTH IDAHO 

Vaughn Weems 4-12 12-12 22, Deng Diew 2-7 1-2 5, Tayshawn Colvin 1-2 6-10 8, Sam Marbury 5-12 4-4 16, Tautako Wynyard 1-1 1-2 3, Ne’quan Brown 3-8 0-0 7, Dace Pleasant 8-14 6-8 27, Mehmet Bener 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremiah Sibley 0-1 0-0 0, Jacori Ervin 2-6, 2-2 6, Ajayi Simmons 3-5 0-0 8. Totals 29-68 32-40 102. 

SOUTH PLAINS  

Arterio Morris 8-20 5-9 23, Issac Taveras 4-9 1-2 9, Caleb Blackwell 4-9 0-0 11, IJ Ezuma 1-6 2-3 4, Jalen Ricks 6-14 0-0 18, Tavaj Cope 8-11 2-2 19, Devontes Cobbs 5-5 1-2 14, Clarence Payia 2-5 0-0 5, Gavin Shannon 0-1 0-0 0, Didier Maleng 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-80 11-18 103. 

Halftime — SP 40-37. End of regulation — tied 86-86. 3-point goals — NIC 12-34 (Weems 2-7, Diew 0-2, Marbury 2-7, Brown 1-4, Pleasant 5-9, Sibley 0-1, Simmons 2-4), SPC 16-40 (Morris 2-9, Taveras 0-1, Blackwell 3-7, Ezuma 0-1, Ricks 6-12, Cope 1-4, Cobbs 3-3, Payia 1-3). Rebounds — NIC 45 (Weems, Pleasant 6), SPC 41 (Cobbs 7). Assists — NIC 15 (Weems 4), SPC 25 (Blackwell 9). Team fouls — NIC 18, SPC 30. Fouled out — Ezuma, Cobbs. Technical fouls — Ricks.