NIC MEN's BASKETBALL: Leavitt leads NIC men to title
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 12 years, 7 months AGO
SPOKANE - When North Idaho College freshman guard Will Dorsey rolled his ankle early in Sunday's championship game of the Bigfoot Classic, more of the ballhandling duties fell to sophomore transfer Bryce Leavitt.
Leavitt more than shouldered the load, finishing with 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists in more than 38 minutes of playing time, earning Most Valuable Player honors as the Cardinals beat host Community Colleges of Spokane 95-88 in the title game at Spokane Community College.
"Pretty gutsy effort on his part," NIC coach Jared Phay said.
Forward Braxton Tucker had 28 points on 13-of-18 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds and was also named to the all-tournament team for NIC (12-2), which went 3-0 on the weekend.
NIC trailed 50-41 early in the second half before battling back and taking the lead for good at 73-72 with seven minutes left.
"I just thought we picked it up on the defensive side," Phay said. "We switched to a zone and put Fuquan Niles in there, and he had some big blocks and big rebounds."
Niles finished with nine rebounds and four blocks, and was also named to the all-tourney team.
NIC opens Scenic West Athletic Conference play Thursday at Utah State-Eastern.
NORTH IDAHO
Jason Wheelock 0-0 0-0 0, Braxton Tucker 13-18 2-2 28, Brad Wallace 2-7 2-2 6, Bryce Leavitt 7-12 11-14 25, Nathan Rathbun 0-0 0-0 0, Will Dorsey 1-2 0-0 2, Cole Kesler 5-12 1-1 12, Fuquan Niles 0-1 3-4 3, Tatafu Nuku 1-4 3-4 5, Jordon King 2-8 0-1 4, Shikei Blake 4-7 2-2 10. Totals 35-71 24-30 95.
CC SPOKANE
Dean Richey 4-7 1-1 11, T.J. Bracey 0-3 0-0 0, Jack Nygaard 6-13 0-0 17, Jared Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Chase McDuffie 1-2 0-0 2, Sam Druffel 8-16 0-0 22, Chase Haack 6-16 0-0 15, Kwinn Hanson 6-10 7-10 19, Dustin Patchen 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 32-71 8-11 88.
Halftime - CCS 43-36. 3-point goals - NIC 1-11 (Wallace 0-3, Kesler 1-7, King 0-1), CCS 16-39 (Richey 2-4, Bracey 0-3, Nygaard 5-8, Miller 0-1, Druffel 6-13, Haack 3-10). Rebounds - NIC 48 (Niles 9), CCS 34 (Haack 8). Assists - NIC 10 (Leavitt 6), CCS 23 (Bracey 9). Fouled out - Richey. Total fouls - NIC 14, CCS 20.