Vandals drop OT contest

to Chinese national team

SZUZHOU, China — In its final game of an eight-game summer trip to China, the Vandals lost to the Chinese National Team 102-94 in overtime Thursday.

The Vandals were playing their third game in as many nights, and eighth game in 10 days overall. Idaho led 38-35 at the half, but China slowly battled back over the final 20 minutes to level the score and force the overtime.

China outscored the Vandals 20-12 in OT.

Victor Sanders scored 27 points in 32 minutes of action. Sanders shot 9 of 15 from the field and 5 of 10 from beyond the arc. He also connected on all four free throw attempts and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

Arkadiy Mkrtychyan scored 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Jordan Scott and Nate Sherwood finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

As a team, the Vandals shot 51 percent (39 of 77) from the floor and 30 percent (6 of 20) from beyond the arc. The rebounds were even at 36 apiece, but the Vandals had 12 offensive boards to just nine by China.

China will be competing in the Rio Olympics in August, having qualified by winning the FIBA Asia Championship last Fall.

Idaho finished 3-5 on its trip.

The team will enjoy another day in China before returning to the States on Saturday.

Cougars add Kansas State to

football schedule in 2026, ’29

PULLMAN — Washington State athletic director Bill Moos announced that the Cougars have agreed to a home-and-home football series with Kansas State, beginning in 2026.

The first game is scheduled to be played in Manhattan, Kan., Sept. 12, with the return contest Sept. 8, 2029 in Martin Stadium.

The 2026 game will mark the first time the two teams have faced each other. Earlier this spring the Cougars and Wildcats announced a two-game basketball series, beginning this fall.

L-C State baseball coach Robbins named NAIA National Coach of the Year

After leading the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team to a second consecutive NAIA championship and 18th in program history, Jeremiah Robbins was named the NAIA-Baseball Coaches Association National Coach of the Year.

Lewis-Clark State claimed the national championship; its second in four years under Robbins, by defeating top-seeded Faulkner in the title game of the 60th-annual NAIA World Series. In that contest, the teams combined for 11 home runs, a World Series record, with six coming off the bats of LCSC in a wild 12-11 victory. It’s the second time in as many seasons the Warriors have won the championship as the fourth seed.

“It was a special season. We had a lot of turnover from the 2015 team and knew going in that we had a lot of work that needed to be done. This year’s Series was the toughest we’ve had playing the one seed twice, the two seed, three seed and five seed, but the chemistry and focus from our guys was rock solid,” Robbins said.

In four seasons as the LC skipper, Robbins has led the Warriors to four World Series title games and amassed a record of 190-44, including a 52-8 mark in 2016. He led the Warriors to their first NAIA West tournament championship in the program’s first appearance at the tournament while going 30-5 in league play. LCSC also topped the postseason coaches’ poll as a unanimous No. 1 selection.