NIC ROUNDUP: Brown gets it done for NIC men in key SWAC contest

• MEN

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — Ne’quan Brown, a sophomore from Tacoma, Wash., had 31 points, seven rebounds and three assists for North Idaho College in a 90-80 win over Salt Lake Community College in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game at Bruin Arena on Wednesday. 

NIC (14-12, 4-7 SWAC) maintains a one-game lead over Salt Lake (9-15, 3-8) for the fourth and final playoff spot with four games remaining in the season. NIC won the season series 2-1, also beating Salt Lake 74-61 on Jan. 22 in Coeur d’Alene. 

Austin Ouko, a freshman from Switzerland, scored 11 points for NIC, which travels to Colorado Northwestern on Saturday. 

Daye Kaba scored 21 points for Salt Lake. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Ne’quan Brown 11-24 2-2 31, Nyale Robinson 0-5 5-6 5, Cody Wright 3-4 0-0 6, Austin Ouko 4-9 0-0 11, Gage Ontiveros 3-4 0-0 6, Ace Arnold 0-2 7-8 7, Ajayi Simmons 2-3 6-6 10, Cason Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Sawyr Hansen 1-1 0-0 3, Justus Haseley 1-6 3-5 5, Aly Toure 1-2 0-0 2, Jacori Ervin 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 28-63 23-27 90. 

SALT LAKE  

Nick Clark 4-9 0-1 9, Danny Young Jr. 1-3 11-13 14, Daye Kaba 7-13 4-4 21, Nick Jefferson 4-10 9-10 18, Jaxon Heiden 2-5 4-6 8, Lantz Stephenson 0-3 4-5 4, Duncan Reid 1-3 0-0 3, Reggie Larsen 1-8 0-0 3, Braden Heaton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-54 32-39 80. 

Halftime — NIC 46-34. 3-point goals — NIC 11-27 (N. Brown 7-11, Robinson 0-2, Ouko 3-7, Arnold 0-2, Simmons 0-1, Miller 0-1, Hansen 1-1, Haseley 0-2), SLCC 8-26 (Clark 1-5, Young Jr. 1-3, Kaba 3-6, Jefferson 1-2, Heiden 0-1, Stephenson 0-2, Reid 1-2, Larsen 1-5). Rebounds — NIC 40 (N. Brown 7), SLCC 34 (Heiden 8). Assists — NIC 11 (N. Brown 3), SLCC 9 (Jefferson 6). Team fouls — NIC 28, SLCC 24. Fouled out — Ouko, Simmons. Technical fouls — Ervin. 

• WOMEN

Salt Lake 69

North Idaho 39

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — The Bruins, ranked 23rd in this week’s NJCAA poll, limited the Cardinals to 13 first half points in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game at Bruin Arena. 

“We missed a lot of easy shots and didn’t do ourselves any favors in the first half on defense,” NIC coach Nathan Covill said. “We just struggled and Salt Lake has been a tough matchup for us with the style they play and the athletes they have. They had some guards that hadn’t been shooting it well, but they did a good job of preparing. 

Kaytie Aanstad, a freshman from Scobey, Mont., had 10 points for NIC (9-15, 4-7 SWAC), which shot 14 of 51. 

NIC leads Snow (15-10, 3-7) by a half game for the fourth and final playoff spot to the Region 18 Tournament. The Badgers and Cardinals will play on Feb. 26 in Coeur d’Alene. 

NIC travels to Colorado Northwestern on Saturday. 

“We’ve got to take care of business on Saturday and make some moves in the right direction,” Covill said. 

Lyla Kahrimanovic had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Salt Lake (19-7, 8-3), which maintained a four-game lead on NIC for third-place in the conference. 

NIC travels to Colorado Northwestern on Saturday. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 4-11 0-0 8, Karsyn Freeman 5-15 0-0 10, Diana Nelson 1-4 2-4 4, Summer Faleafa 1-10 0-0 2, Sari Murphy 0-2 3-4 3, Molly Axell 0-2 2-2 2, Kaytie Aanstad 3-7 4-6 10. Totals 14-51 11-16 39. 

SALT LAKE 

Calonni Holloway 0-3 1-2 1, Lyla Kahrimanovic 6-10 4-6 17, Ahnica Russell-Brown 4-8 0-0 10, Tahys Da Silva 1-5 3-3 6, Oyinkansola Soetan 0-2 0-0 0, Analeise Maharaj 0-1 0-0 0, Simran Williams 6-14 4-8 16, Ines Babaya 6-8 0-0 13, Nani Tuigamala 1-1 0-0 2, Maria Ignatchenko 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 26-56 12-19 69. 

North Idaho    3    10    12    14    —    39 

Salt Lake    28    24    10    7    —    69 

3-pont goals — NIC 0-8 (Collin 0-1, Freeman 0-3, Faleafa 0-2, Axell 0-2), SLCC 5-16 (Holloway 0-1, Kahrimanovic 1-2, Russell-Brown 2-4, Da Silva 2-4, Maharaj 0-1, Williams 0-1, Babaya 1-2, Ingantchenko 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 29 (Faleafa 6), SLCC 44 (Kahrimanovic 12). Assists — NIC 5, Collin, Faleafa 2), SLCC 12 (Da Silva 5). Team fouls — NIC 16, SLCC 15. Fouled out — none.