COEUR d'ALENE - It's the Cardinal rule.

No turnovers late in the game.

It came back to bite host North Idaho College on Saturday as the No. 15 Salt Lake Community College Bruins forced a pair of turnovers in the final minute and closed the game at the foul line to earn a 66-64 Scenic West Athletic Conference win at Rolly Williams Court.

NIC took a 61-60 lead with 3:02 remaining on a Bryce Leavitt jumper, but was held scoreless over the final moments, while the Bruins made four of five free throws in the final 25.9 seconds to take a 66-61 lead.

NIC freshman Cole Kesler, who finished with a team-high 17 points, hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game right before the buzzer to cap the scoring.

"We had a couple of turnovers, and you just can't turn the ball over down the stretch," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "We gave up too many offensive rebounds and they were hurting us with that."

Salt Lake (15-3, 2-1 SWAC) finished with 11 offensive rebounds and scored 15 points off 10 NIC (16-3, 2-2) turnovers.

"It was just a grinder once again," Salt Lake coach Todd Phillips said. "The only bad thing is we've got to come back here again. It was a battle right down to the end. Neither team shot it great, but it was really good defense. Both of us can shoot it better than that, and I'm sure Jared would say the same thing. But it was a fun game down toward the end."

Neal Monson scored a game-high 18 points for Salt Lake, which got 13 points from Gary Payton II, all coming in the second half.

"They're really good defensively and probably the best defensive team in the conference," Phay said. "They're long and really big, so that helps. They really kept their composure. They've got some great leadership and just never panicked."

Payton, who signed with his dad's alma mater, Oregon State, in November, made three of the team's final five points.

"We couldn't finish any defensive possession out with a box out," Kesler said. "We'd play hard for 20-25 seconds and wouldn't box out. The last couple of minutes, we just couldn't get a shot up and made some bad decisions. But we're still together and a family."

"There's going to be a lot more games just like this," Phay said. "I told them there's not many 10-point wins, but more like two-point overtime games. We need to execute late and take care of the basketball."

Salt Lake won the Region 18 tournament last year in Coeur d'Alene, then beat Arizona Western in a play-in to advance to the NJCAA tournament.

"It's hard to beat Jared here," Phillips said. "I've been here three times as a head coach, and it's hard to win up here, but we'll take it. I do enjoy being up here, Coeur d'Alene is great and I like that, but I just don't like playing Jared."

Salt Lake, which lost to CSI 64-61 on Thursday in Twin Falls, returns home to face Utah State-Eastern and Colorado Northwestern this week.

"It was really big for us to get the split," Phillips said. "These two games and teams are probably the best two in our league, and to get this one was really big for our psyche."

NIC hosts Southern Idaho on Saturday at 5 p.m.

"We can't dwell on this one too much," Phay said. "We need to have a good week of practice and get ready for CSI."

In other SWAC play, Utah State-Eastern (3-0, 16-1) thumped Colorado Northwestern (6-11, 0-3) 107-54 in Price, Utah, and Southern Idaho (16-2, 3-1) scored the final 12 points to rally past Snow (9-8, 0-2) 66-64 in Twin Falls.

SALT LAKE

Kurtis Toolson 4-7 1-2 11, Gary Payton II 4-10 5-6 13, De'Sean Parsons 4-12 0-4 8, Jaden Jackson 2-8 0-0 4, C.J. Spjute 0-1 0-0 0, Zerrion Payton 1-6 1-3 3, Larry Okhomina 3-3 1-2 7, Aquavius Young 1-2 0-0 2, Neal Monson 7-12 4-6 18. Totals 26-61 12-23 66.

NORTH IDAHO

Braxton Tucker 5-12 0-0 10, Brad Wallace 1-4 2-2 5, Bryce Leavitt 4-8 4-4 12, Will Dorsey 3-12 1-1 8, Cole Kesler 6-10 1-2 17, Fuquan Niles 2-5 0-2 4, Tatafu Nuku 2-4 2-2 6, Jordon King 0-1 2-2 2, Shikei Blake 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 23-57 12-15 64.

Halftime - NIC 29-25. 3-point goals - SLCC 2-14 (Toolson 2-3, G. Payton 0-3, Parsons 0-3, Jackson 0-3, Spjute 0-1, Z. Payton 0-1), NIC 6-17 (Wallace 1-3, Leavitt 0-2, Dorsey 1-6, Kesler 4-6). Rebounds - SLCC 37 (Monson 10), NIC 40 (Niles 10). Assists - SLCC 14 (Toolson, Z. Payton 4), NIC 11 (Leavitt, Dorsey 4). Team fouls - SLCC 18, NIC 17. Fouled out - none.