MOSCOW - Connor Hill did what some of his teammates weren't able to do only seconds earlier - make free throws, and in so doing, he was able to secure Idaho's 83-79 Big Sky Conference victory over Northern Colorado Saturday night.

Hill's two shots with two seconds remaining in a game the Vandals had led by as many as 23 points helped Idaho (8-10, 3-4 Big Sky) snap a four-game skid.

"I'm proud of our guys," coach Don Verlin said. "What I want to focus on is we got a win. ... To find a way to win tonight was good."

Hill, a senior from Post Falls High, and Verlin both noted the Vandals played well for 35 of the game's 40 minutes.

"This is a big win for us," said Hill, who finished with 21 points - second only to Mike Scott's 23. "We played a good game for 35 minutes."

Northern Colorado (9-9, 4-3 Big Sky) was led by Tim Huskisson with 21 points and Tevin Svihovec with 14.

That treacherous five-minute span enabled the Bears to climb back into contention after trailing by 23, 68-45, with 11:38 to play in the game. Their ability to steadily chip away at the lead brought them to within one, 78-77, with 20 seconds to play. The Vandals had chances to put more distance between them in the previous 30 seconds but a succession of missed free throws - all the front ends of one-and-ones, kept the Bears close.

"We played really well for 35 minutes," said Verlin, adding there wasn't one thing that allowed the Bears to creep back in but instead a compilation of a variety of aspects of the game. "It turned out the right way tonight."

In addition to Hill and Scott, Bira Seck also reached double figures with 14 points in addition to hauling in a team-best eight rebounds. Fifteen of Hill's 21 points came from 3-point range, while nine of Scott's did. Victor Sanders added three more 3s and the Vandals were good on 11 of 19.

Idaho's shooting from the field didn't mirror its efforts at the line - except in final percentages where the Vandals hit a stellar 59.3 percent from the field and 59.1 percent from 3-point range, only to hit an inexplicable 59.2 percent from the line.

Idaho travels to Eastern Washington next Saturday.

N. COLORADO (9-9)

Spence 0-2 0-1 0, Michael 3-8 1-2 9, Svihovec 5-9 3-4 14, Lee 2-4 3-4 8, Verhagen 4-5 0-0 8, McDavis 3-4 1-2 7, Wilson 1-4 2-3 5, Mathis 0-0 0-0 0, Huskisson 8-13 5-6 21, Johnson 3-4 0-0 7. Totals 29-53 15-22 79.

IDAHO (8-10)

Callandret 0-1 0-1 0, Wiggs 2-5 1-4 5, Hill 6-13 4-5 21, M. Scott 7-11 6-9 23, Seck 6-8 2-2 14, Mpawe 0-0 0-0 0, Sanders 3-4 0-0 9, C. Sherwood 0-0 0-0 0, Mkrtychyan 2-3 0-1 4, Egbert 3-4 0-0 6, J. Scott 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 29-49 14-24 83.

Halftime_Idaho 47-32. 3-Point Goals_N. Colorado 6-17 (Michael 2-6, Lee 1-1, Johnson 1-1, Svihovec 1-1, Wilson 1-3, Spence 0-2, Huskisson 0-3), Idaho 11-19 (Hill 5-9, Sanders 3-4, M. Scott 3-5, Callandret 0-1). Fouled Out_Seck, Wilson. Rebounds_N. Colorado 24 (Verhagen 5), Idaho 28 (Seck 8). Assists_N. Colorado 11 (Lee, Svihovec 3), Idaho 16 (M. Scott 6). Total Fouls_N. Colorado 20, Idaho 21. Technicals_N. Colorado Bench 2. A_NA.