NIC ROUNDUP: Cardinals men fall, remain tied for fourth in SWAC

• MEN'S BASKETBALL

TWIN FALLS — This one was big. 

Wednesday’s might be bigger for the North Idaho College men’s basketball team. 

NIC (13-12, 3-7 SWAC), which fell 85-69 at College of Southern Idaho on Saturday, remained tied for the fourth and final playoff spot to the Region 18 Tournament after Salt Lake (9-14, 3-7) lost 79-68 to third-place Utah State-Eastern in Taylorsville, Utah, earlier on Saturday. 

NIC travels to Salt Lake on Wednesday. The teams split their previous matchups, each winning on their home court. 

Ajayi Simmons, a sophomore from Seattle, had 17 points and four rebounds off the bench for the Cardinals, who trailed 43-35 at halftime. 

Cooper Kesler had 27 points and eight rebounds off the bench for CSI (23-2, 9-1), which is tied with Snow (24-1, 9-1) for the conference lead. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Ne’quan Brown 4-12 3-4 11, Nyale Robinson 0-4 0-1 0, Cody Wright 3-4 1-1 8, Austin Ouko 1-9 0-0 2, Gage Ontiveros 6-10 0-2 12, Vander Brown 1-1 0-1 2, Ace Arnold 0-0 0-0 0, Ajayi Simmons 7-10 3-4 17, Cason Miller 0-2 0-0 0, Sawyr Hansen 0-1 3-4 3, Justus Haseley 3-6 2-4 10, Aly Toure 0-0 0-0 0, Jacori Ervin 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 27-61 12-21 69. 

SOUTHERN IDAHO 

Jalen Lyn 1-9 2-2 4, Ace Reiser 4-9 4-5 14, Ben Thornbrue 2-8 2-4 8, Nathan Ahner 3-8 7-8 15, Charlie Dimmock 3-6 0-1 6, Cooper Kesler 9-14 3-3 27, William Issekya 1-1 0-0 3, Kyah Farris-White 0-0 0-0 0, Kobe Kesler 0-1 0-0 0, Guygustone Kasenga 2-4 4-4 8. Totals 25-60 22-28 85. 

Halftime — CSI 43-35. 3-point goals — NIC 3-21 (N. Brown 0-5, Robinson 0-2, Wright 1-2, Ouko 0-4, Simmons 0-2, Miller 0-2, Hansen 0-1, Haseley 2-3), CSI 13-30 (Lyn 0-5, Reiser 2-4, Thornbrue 2-4, Ahner 2-5, C. Kesler 6-10, Issekya 1-1, K. Kesler 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 39 (N. Brown 7), CSI 42 (C. Kesler 8). Assists — NIC 12 (Ouko, Miller 2), CSI 14 (Reiser 5). Team fouls — NIC 23, CSI 20. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — Ontiveros, C. Kesler. 

• WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Southern Idaho 55 

North Idaho 43 

TWIN FALLS — The Cardinals rallied to cut the deficit to 44-40 with five minutes remaining, but a 6-0 run over the next two minutes helped the Golden Eagles — ranked 12th in the NJCAA — beat the Cardinals in a Scenic West Athletic Conference play at CSI Gymnasium. 

Ashley Garner had 10 points and 23 rebounds, including nine offensive rebounds for CSI (22-3, 8-2 SWAC). 

“We played really good defense tonight, but we needed to rebound the ball to win this game,” NIC coach Nathan Covill said. “And we did not do a good job of that tonight.” 

Freshman Karsyn Freeman got a steal for the Cardinals with 4:41 left, but was then called for an offensive foul. NIC did not score again until a basket by freshman Diana Nelson made it 50-42 with 2:27 remaining. 

“The girls did a great job of battling,” Covill said. “If we make a few more shots, we’re right there. Our kids battled tonight. We’re not happy with the loss, but I’m proud of how hard they fought.” 

Freeman had 13 points for NIC (9-14, 4-6 SWAC), which faces Salt Lake on Wednesday in Taylorsville, Utah. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 2-13 3-4 7, Karsyn Freeman 6-15 0-1 13, Diana Nelson 4-11 0-2 8, Summer Faleafa 2-4 2-4 7, Sari Murphy 0-2 0-0 0, Molly Axell 0-2 0-0 0, Kaytie Aanstad 4-5 0-0 8. Totals 18-52 5-11 43. 

SOUTHERN IDAHO 

Chloe Jensen 0-3 2-2 2, Samara Morrow 6-10 3-4 17, Savannah Stoker 4-15 1-2 9, Ziah Greybull 3-7 0-0 6, Ashley Garner 4-14 2-7 10, Sarah Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Eva Birkeland 0-1 0-0 0, Calyn Wood 1-6 0-0 3, Lea Nadolny 0-3 0-0 0, Maci Hess 4-9 0-0 8, Naomi Senato 0-1 0-0. Totals 22-69 8-15 55. 

North Idaho    7    8    15    13    —    43 

Southern Idaho    14    8    14    19    —    55 

3-point goals — NIC 2-12 (Collin 0-4, Freeman 1-5, Faleafa 1-2, Axell 0-1), CSI 3-17 (Jensen 0-2, Morrow 2-4, Stoker 0-1, Greybull 0-2, Birkeland 0-1, Wood 1-5, Nadolny 0-1, Senato 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 34 (Nelson, Faleafa 7), CSI 55 (Garner 23). Assists — NIC 9 (Collin, Freeman 3), CSI 15 (Morrow 6). Team fouls — NIC 15, CSI 11. Fouled out — Aanstad. 

• SOFTBALL

Cardinals beat El Paso,  

fall to Arizona Western 

YUMA, Ariz. — Hannah Brockman, a sophomore from Taylorsville, Utah, had three hits and three runs scored for North Idaho College in a 11-5 win over El Paso Community College on the campus of Arizona Western College. 

Maya Perry, a freshman from Lindon, Utah, had three RBIs for NIC against El Paso. 

Later, Arizona Western scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning and went on to beat the Cardinals 10-2. 

Emily Hanchey, a sophomore from Twin Falls, had RBI singles in the fourth and fifth inning for NIC (2-7). 

Rauni Gallegos had two hits and five RBIs for Arizona Western (6-2). 

NIC faces Arizona Western in a doubleheader today in Yuma.

NORTH IDAHO 11, EL PASO 5 

El Paso        230    000    0    —    5    0    0 

North Idaho    440    210    x    —    11    11    5 

El Paso battery unavailable; Makenna Webber and Chloe Hearrell. 

HITS: EPCC — not available. NIC — Brockman 3, Hanchey 2, Hearrell, Roberts 2, Drake 2, Perry. 2B — Roberts, Drake 2. 

ARIZONA WESTERN 10, NORTH IDAHO 2 

North Idaho        000    110    —    2    7    0 

Arizona Western    700    021    —    10    13    0 

Game called with none out in 6th inning due to 8-run rule.  

Maelynn Durham, Lilly McNett (1), Elizabeth Hatch (6) and Chloe Hearrell; Analy Trejo, Myah Alexander (6), Autumn Arriola (6) and Alana McDonnell.  

HITS: NIC — Brockman, Hearrell, Drake, Perry 2, Hanchey 2. AWC — Gallegos 2, Frechette, Trejo 2, Rueda, Rodriguez 2, Soderlund 2, Pinon, Weisser, McDonnell. 2B — Drake, Gallegos, Trejo.