COEUR d'ALENE - The North Idaho College men's basketball team knew that the 16th-ranked Utah State-Eastern Golden Eagles had some shot blockers on their roster.

On Saturday, NIC joined the party.

NIC broke open a 33-27 halftime lead in the second half, shooting 15 of 27 in the second half of an 83-65 Scenic West Athletic Conference game at Rolly Williams Court.

Utah State-Eastern led 13-5 midway through the first half. NIC erupted to take the halftime advantage following a no-call on a Will Dorsey drive that sent the Cardinal freshman into the wall under the basket.

"I think that sparked us a little bit," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "To Eastern Utah's credit, they're long and big and in a half-court set, they're tough to score on."

NIC outrebounded Utah State-Eastern 50-38 and shot 27 of 33 from the foul line.

"It was a very balanced effort," Phay said. "I think the guys are starting to get what our defensive pressure is about and how to play with each other. We'll just keep getting better."

Bryce Leavitt scored 22 points, including 11 of 12 from the foul line for NIC (17-5, 4-3 SWAC), which travels to Salt Lake on Thursday.

"Bryce is such a hard worker," Phay said. "He actually needs to rest, but he'll probably be back in the gym tonight shooting. And it pays off for him. He really sparked us in that first half and hit some big shots for us."

"It was kind of a slow start, but they were hitting some tough shots," Leavitt said. "Once again, it was kind of like the CSI game where we were cold at the start, but we started to compose ourselves and put more effort into the defense and got some transition buckets and it really got us started and on a roll."

Braxton Tucker scored 15 points and Dorsey added 14 for NIC, which moves into a tie for third in the conference with Utah State-Eastern (17-4, 4-3).

"It was a huge win for us," Phay said. "I think tonight was a must-win for a lot of reasons. I think we've got a chance to get back into the title hunt, but we had to have this one."

Kendahl Amerson, a 6-2 freshman guard, scored 27 points for Utah State-Eastern.

"I think he's the best player in the league," Phay said. "He still had his points, but we were able to limit everybody else."

Utah State-Eastern coach Adjalma Becheli, who was ejected from Thursday's loss at Southern Idaho, was prohibited to coach the Golden Eagles on Saturday. Assistant coach Justin Brown, who filled in, declined comment following the game.

UTAH STATE-EASTERN

Trahmier Burrell 0-3 0-0 0, Nafis Walker 7-14 0-0 14, Vitor Machado 0-0 0-0 0, Travon Langston 0-2 0-0 0, Jaleni Neely 3-7 11-13 18, Kendahl Amerson 9-22 6-10 27, Alioune Tew 1-3 2-6 4, Josh Van Weezep 0-0 0-0 0, Todd Helgesen 0-4 0-0 0, Teotonio Do 0-3 0-0 0, Leland Miller 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 21-60 19-29 65.

NORTH IDAHO

Braxton Tucker 5-16 5-7 15, Brad Wallace 3-6 0-0 6, Bryce Leavitt 4-7 11-12 22, Nathan Rathbun 1-3 0-0 2, Will Dorsey 4-13 6-6 14, Cole Kesler 1-7 2-4 5, Fuquan Niles 4-6 0-0 8, Tatafu Nuku 2-3 1-2 5, Jordon King 1-1 0-0 2, Shikei Blake 1-5 2-2 4. Totals 26-67 27-33 83.

Halftime - NIC 33-27. 3-point goals - US-E 4-14 (Walker 0-2, Neely 0-1, Amerson 3-10), NIC 4-16 (Wallace 0-1, Leavitt 3-5, Dorsey 0-5, Kesler 1-5). Rebounds - US-E 38 (Do 10), NIC 50 (Wallace, Leavitt 7). Assists - US-E 5 (Burrell 3), NIC 15 (Leavitt 8). Team fouls - US-E 30, NIC 20. Fouled out - Burrell, Walker, Neely. Technical fouls - Burrell, King.