MOSCOW ­— Moscow senior guard Gabe Quinnett scored 17 of his 32 points in the second quarter and the Bears cruised to a 71-44 Inland Empire League win on Saturday night.

“Moscow is in first place for a reason,” Sandpoint head coach Wade Engelson said of the Bears, who won the 4A IEL regular-season title outright with the win. “They’re a really good team and they execute their stuff on the high level.”

Although both teams took a few possessions to find their rhythms in the first quarter, Moscow came out with a balanced offensive attack and ferocity on the boards. Four different Bears got on the board in the first quarter, while Ben Postell (four points, a game-high 10 rebounds) and Benny Kitchel (seven points, four rebounds) helped Moscow hold Sandpoint to one shot attempt on the other end. Meanwhile, Sandpoint junior guard Ryan Roos kick-started Sandpoint’s offense with threes on back-to-back possessions.

“[Roos] got off to a fast start,” Engelson said. “He’s a very skilled, athletic player who can make plays for himself.”

Quinnett came alive in the second quarter by scoring Moscow’s first six points. Sandpoint racked up fouls and got into the bonus early in the quarter, which favored Quinnett; the senior went 8-8 from the free-throw line in that quarter alone.

As a team, Moscow shot 25-44 (56.8 percent) from the field. Sandpoint took the same amount of shots, but only hit 14 while turning the ball over 12 times.

The Bulldogs were led by Roos and fellow junior Kobe Banks, who finished with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Alex Stockton added nine points, eight rebounds and three steals for Sandpoint. Moscow senior Derek Rauch-Edwards finished with 10 points and a team-high four assists.

Sandpoint (7-9, 0-3 IEL) hosts Lake City on Feb. 6, while Moscow (11-3, 4-0 IEL) hosts Lewiston on Feb. 8.

Sandpoint 11 14 8 11 — 44

Moscow 14 24 19 14 — 71

SANDPOINT — Jones 0, Banks 12, Roos 16, Casey 1, Stockton 9, Niemela 2, Treadaway 0, Bailey 2, VanDenBerg 2.

MOSCOW — Quinnett 32, Decker 7, Skinner 4, Rauch-Edwards 10, Kitchel 7, Postell 4, Makamson 4, Haeder 1, Clary 0, Ellis 0, Diego 2.