Evans' triple-double leads NIC men to win

MOSES LAKE, Wash. — A triple-double by North Idaho College guard RayQuan Evans, along with a big day at the free-throw line, helped the visiting Cardinals cruise past Big Bend 94-76 Monday in Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball action.

Evans scored 27 points (including a 15-for-15 game at the free-throw line), grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out 10 assists for the Cardinals, who notched their third straight conference win. As a team, NIC sank 36-for-41 free throw attempts, converting 88 percent.

“RayQuan had a big game, he’s had a big year for us,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “That triple-double was huge for us today.”

Iain McLaughlin came off the bench to score 21 points for the Cardinals, who led 47-35 at halftime and maintained a 7-point or greater lead throughout the second half.

Tyler Brimhall added 12 points for NIC (13-4, 3-1 NWAC East), which hosts Walla Walla at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

DeAngelo Stowers sank seven 3-pointers for the Vikings en route to a 25-point game. As a team, Big Bend (8-9, 1-4) shot 15-for-49 from 3-point range (30 percent).

“We have a bigger, more physical team than most of the teams we play,” Symons said. “We emphasize trying to get to the rim, and they settled for jump shots. We shot nine 3-pointers, they shot 49.”

NORTH IDAHO CARDINALS (13-4, 3-1 NWAC East)

Evans 6-14 15-15 27, Burkett 3-8 0-1 6, Williams 2-4 3-4 8, Brimhall 4-7 3-3 12, Christiaens 0-1 5-6 5, McLaughlin 7-13 6-8 21, Potts-Woods 3-9 0-0 7, Chapman 1-2 4-4 6, Lundblad 0-0 0-0 0, Lester 0-1 0-0 0, McRaven 0-0 0-0 0, Cowley 1-1 0-0 2, Crosby 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 36-41 94.

BIG BEND VIKINGS (8-9, 1-4 NWAC East)

Smith 3-9 0-0 8, Hawkins 2-11 4-4 10, Dittman 5-11 0-0 11, Stowers 9-19 0-0 25, M. Brown 3-10 0-1 8, Ahmann 1-6 0-0 2, Huerta 2-7 3-3 7, Kuiper 1-1 2-2 5, Christensen 0-1 0-0 0, J. Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Henry 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-76 9-10 76.

Halftime — NIC 47-35. 3-Point Goals — NIC 4-9 (Williams 1-1, Brimhall 1-2, McLaughlin 1-2, Potts-Woods 1-4), Big Bend 15-49 (Stowers 7-15, Smith 2-5, M. Brown 2-5, Hawkins 2-9, Kuiper 1-1, Dittman 1-3, Christensen 0-1, J. Brown 0-1, Ahmann 0-4). Rebounds — NIC 42 (Evans 13), Big Bend 33 (M. Brown 10). Assists — NIC 15 (Evans 10), Big Bend 12 (Dittman 5). Total Fouls — NIC 17, Big Bend 31. Fouled Out — M. Brown, Ahmann. Technical Fouls — Williams.

Women: Big Bend 79, NIC 78

MOSES LAKE, Wash. — The visiting Cardinals overcame a 16-point halftime deficit with a 27-point fourth quarter, only to have the Vikings’ Miranda Johnson hit a game-winning layup with 18 seconds remaining in Monday’s NWAC East women’s game.

Lake City graduate Cierra Dvorak, who led NIC with 24 points and 10 steals, put the Cardinals ahead 78-77 with her steal and layup with 41 seconds left to play.

Big Bend’s Leah Dougherty missed a shot, but grabbed her own rebound with 23 seconds left before Johnson hit the game-winner five seconds later.

The Vikings’ Kelsey Foster had a steal in the closing seconds to prevent NIC from attempting a shot to win the game.

Four of the five Cardinal starters scored in double- figures, including Sydney Hovde’s 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Coach Chris Carlson was pleased with his team’s second-half output, as the Cardinals scored 52 points after intermission.

“We’ve dropped three in a row, but in the second half I saw signs of how we played earlier this season,” Carlson said. “We came out of our shooting slump and hopefully that will carry over to the home games we have coming up.”

Johnson led Big Bend (13-5, 2-3) with 23 points while Sunnie Martinez added 19. The Vikings out-rebounded NIC 45-34 in the game, led by Hailey Garrity’s 15 rebounds.

The Cardinals (10-6, 1-3) host Walla Walla at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

NORTH IDAHO CARDINALS (10-6, 1-3 NWAC East)

Dvorak 8-21 8-9 24, Harris 6-15 3-7 16, Meier 3-12 4-4 12, Auer 4-9 0-0 8, Hovde 6-10 1-2 13, Berg 1-4 0-0 2, Krupa 1-1 0-2 3, Jordan 0-1 0-0 0, Logozzo 0-0 0-0 0, Sorn 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-74 16-24 78.

BIG BEND VIKINGS (13-5, 2-3 NWAC East)

Martinez 7-14 0-0 19, Garrity 4-8 0-0 8, Dougherty 3-10 2-2 8, Johnson 9-23 2-3 23, Gronning 3-9 2-2 9, Allan 4-8 3-4 11, Foster 0-1 1-2 1, Strom 0-1 0-0 0, Drummond 0-0 0-0 0, VanSlyke 0-0 0-0 0, Bishop 0-0 0-0 0, Jansen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-74 10-13 79.

North Idaho 16 10 25 27 — 78

Big Bend 19 23 22 15 — 79

3-Point Goals — NIC 4-15 (Meier 2-5, Krupa 1-1, Harris 1-3, Jordan 0-1, Auer 0-2, Dvorak 0-3), Big Bend 9-32 (Martinez 5-12, Johnson 3-13, Gronning 1-4, Dougherty 0-1, Allan 0-1, Strom 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 34 (Hovde 11), Big Bend 45 (Garrity 15). Assists — NIC 13 (Harris 5), Big Bend 18 (Martinez 5). Total Fouls — NIC 19, Big Bend 20. Fouled Out — Garrity.