SPOKANE - The North Idaho College Cardinals men's basketball team didn't have to look too far into the past to get motivated for their Border Clash with the Community Colleges of Spokane Bigfoot on Friday night.

After falling in the championship game of the Cardinal-Bigfoot Classic on Dec. 4, NIC jumped out to a big halftime lead on the way to a 76-56 nonconference win over the Bigfoot at West Valley High.

"I felt much better about our effort tonight," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "We lost our composure a little bit the last time we played them (Dec. 4). We overcame it tonight."

NIC held Spokane to just 4 of 26 shooting from the field in the first half.

"With it being our first game after the Christmas break, it's always a little scary," said Phay of the matchup. "But we were a little extra motivated tonight."

NIC outrebounded Spokane 37-11 in the first half and finished with a 58-27 advantage.

Michael Middlebrooks scored a game-high 19 points for NIC, which hosts Columbia Basin on Monday at Rolly Williams Court before opening Scenic West Athletic Conference play against Snow on Thursday night.

"He's very good around the rim," Spokane coach Clint Hull said. "They play so well together that they're able to break down a defense, they can get the ball to him. We just didn't keep the ball in front of us."

Keon Lewis had 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists for NIC (13-1).

"This was an emotional game for us," Lewis said. "But I like how we overcame adversity. We just need to keep looking to ourselves to keep battling through. In the beginning of the season, we weren't sure what we had, but we're slowly building some confidence."

Preston Wynne scored 17 points and DeAngelo Jones had 15 points for Spokane, which entered the game as the top-ranked team in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges.

"I thought Connor White did a great job on Wynne tonight," Phay said. "Both him and Kwame (Bates) off the bench did a great job on him. Our goal tonight was to limit their touches.

"We know how tough our conference teams are. Spokane would compete in our conference."

Kaj Sherman added 10 points and 13 rebounds for NIC.

"Inside, their bigs are so long," Hull said. "We started settling for perimeter shots. I thought we got some good looks, but once they started rimming out, it kind of snowballed on us."

NORTH IDAHO

Jordan McCloud 3-8 0-0 6, Antoine Hosley 6-16 1-3 15, Connor White 1-1 0-0 3, Kwame Bates 0-1 0-0 0, Keon Lewis 3-10 8-9 14, Michael Middlebrooks 9-10 1-2 19, Edrico McGregor 1-5 0-0 2, Petar Joksimovic 1-6 4-6 7, Kaj Sherman 5-10 0-1 10. Totals 29-67 14-21 76.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES OF SPOKANE

Tyler Edwards 0-2 0-0 0, Preston Wynne 7-17 1-3 17, Ahbrae Harvey 0-3 0-0 0, Eric Holbrook 1-2 0-0 3, DeAngelo Jones 3-9 7-10 15, Taylor Pettersen 1-3 2-3 4, Brady Bagby 0-6 2-2, Christian Parrott 0-3 0-0 0, Luke Evans 3-8 2-2 9, Marlowe Brim 2-4 2-2 6. Totals 17-57 16-22 56.

Halftime - NIC 38-19. 3-point goals - NIC 4-12 (McCloud 0-1, Hosley 2-5, White 1-1, Bates 0-1, Lewis 0-1, Joksimovic 1-3), CCS 6-25 (Edwards 0-2, Wynne 2-7, Harvey 0-2, Holbrook 1-1, Jones 2-5, Pettersen 0-1, Bagby 0-4, Evans 1-3). Rebounds - NIC 58 (Sherman 13), CCS 27 (Jones 7). Assists - NIC 9 (Lewis 6), CCS 5 (Harvey 2). Team fouls - NIC 18, CCS 16. Fouled out - none.