Nuku, Dorsey lead Card men past Columbia Basin

PASCO, Wash. - Freshman Tatafu Nuku had 15 points and 13 rebounds to lead the North Idaho College Cardinal men's basketball team past the Columbia Basin College Hawks of the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges 86-65 on Tuesday night.

Will Dorsey had 18 points and three assists and Braxton Tucker added 13 points for NIC (4-1), which faces Blue Mountain College tonight in Pendleton, Ore., at 6 p.m.

"I thought both Tatafu and Will had a breakout night tonight," NIC men's coach Jared Phay said. "They really figured things out and really got things rolling tonight."

NIC outrebounded Columbia Basin 53-41 in the game.

"They had a 6-foot-8 and 6-4 kid, but we definitely handled them on the boards," Phay said. "They shot a lot of 3s and were able to run a few down, but other than that we were able to handle that."

Jordan En'Wezoh scored 12 points for Columbia Basin, which cut the deficit to six points before a 12-0 NIC run with six minutes remaining put the game out of reach.

"This is a tough place to play," Phay said. "It gets really loud in this gym and it was a good test for us early in the season."

NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE

Jason Wheelock 0-0 3-4 3, Braxton Tucker 5-9 3-4 13, Brad Wallace 1-5 0-0 2, Bryce Leavitt 2-6 2-2 6, Nathan Rathbun 2-3 2-3 6, Will Dorsey 5-11 7-10 18, Cole Kesler 3-7 2-2 11, Fuquan Niles 2-4 0-1 4, Jameal Robateau 0-0 0-0 0, Tatafu Nuku 7-12 1-4 15, Jordon King 2-5 4-6 8. Ty Higbie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-62 24-36 86.

COLUMBIA BASIN

James Lopez 3-5 0-4 6, Jordan King 0-0 0-0 0, Steven Ponce 1-2 1-2 3, Justin Smith 2-9 0-0 6, Brandon Oswalt 2-4 0-0 4, Jordan En'Wezoh 5-9 2-4 12, Mitchell Acosta 0-0 1-5 1, Kyler DeWitt 2-8 0-0 6, Mitchell Zapien 4-9 2-3 10, Jaden Barrett 1-3 0-0 3, Steven Walter 2-14 0-0 4, Andrew Reddout 3-5 4-6 10. Totals 25-68 10-24 65.

Halftime - NIC 41-28. 3-point goals - NIC 4-12 (Wallace 0-2, Leavitt 0-1, Dorsey 1-2, Kesler 3-4, Nuku 0-1, King 0-2), CBC 5-27 (Lopez 0-1, Ponce 0-1, Smith 2-6, Oswalt 0-2, DeWitt 2-6, Zapien 0-1, Barrett 1-3, Walter 0-6, Reddout 0-1). Rebounds - NIC 53 (Nuku 13), CBC 41 (En'Wezoh 8). Assists - NIC 5 (Dorsey 3), CBC 12 (Walter, Smith 3). Team fouls - NIC 25, CBC 23. Technical fouls - Reddout. Fouled out - Reddout.

* WOMEN

North Idaho 83

Columbia Basin 66

PASCO, Wash. - Panisesi Taimani, a graduate of nearby Kennewick High, scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Cardinals past the Hawks.

Taimani was 8-of-15 from the field in her 26 minutes of action. Kiona-Benton graduate Bailey Schroeder added seven points and four rebounds for NIC (4-1), which hosts Dawson Community College on Friday at 5:30 p.m.

Renae Mokrzycki, who recently signed with Idaho, scored a game-high 22 points for NIC. Jansen Butler had 10 points and three assists.

NORTH IDAHO

Katie King 0-3 0-0 0, Jansen Butler 4-9 1-2 10, Bailey Schroeder 2-6 2-2 7, Morgan Grier 0-1 1-2 1, Ryleigh Swagerty 2-5 0-0 6, Kara Staggs 3-7 0-0 8, Sabrina Earle 0-1 0-0 0, Renae Mokrzycki 8-13 6-7 22, Caitlyn Behymer 3-6 0-1 6, Mariah Swanson 3-6 1-2 7, Maggie Kirscher 0-1 0-0 0, Panisesi Taimani 8-15 0-0 16. Totals 33-73 11-16 83.

COLUMBIA BASIN

Alicia Jones 4-6 1-2 9, Kellie Ross 0-0 0-0 0, Kelsey Yenney 1-6 5-6 7, Shannon Bland 2-7 1-2 5, Sydney Mercer 5-13 5-6 15, Lyndsay Oswalt 3-6 0-4 6, Sierra Higheagle 4-7 0-1 9, Lacie French 1-3 0-1 3, Brenda Bingham 0-0 0-2 0, Hannah Depew 1-3 0-2 2, Courtney Nelson 4-12 1-3 10. Totals 25-63 13-29 66.

Halftime - NIC 37-30. 3-point goals- NIC 6-18 (Swagerty 2-2, Staggs 2-5, Butler 1-3, Schroeder 1-3, King 0-2, Grier 0-1, Mokrzycki 0-1, Swanson 0-1), CBC 3-13 (Higheagle 1-2, French 1-2, Nelson 1-2, Yenney 0-4, Mercer 0-2, Bland 0-1). Rebounds - NIC 51 (Taimani 12), CBC 41 (Nelson 5). Assists - NIC 14 (Butler, Swanson 3), CBC 11 (Bland 4). Fouls - NIC 25, CBC 19. Technicals - NIC, bench