NIC BASKETBALL: Cardinals keep pace in SWAC standings

• MEN

RANGELY, Colo. — Ne’quan Brown, a sophomore from Tacoma, Wash., had 20 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for North Idaho College in an 80-70 Scenic West Athletic Conference win over the Colorado Northwestern Spartans at Hefley Arena on Saturday. 

NIC (15-12, 5-7 SWAC) holds a two-game lead over Salt Lake (9-16, 3-9) for the fourth and final spot to the Region 18 Tournament, each with three games remaining. The Cardinals trail Utah State-Eastern (19-7, 6-5) for third. 

Freshman Austin Ouko had 21 points and five rebounds for NIC, which outrebounded Colorado Northwestern 46-26. 

NIC returns home to face College of Southern Idaho next Saturday. 

Colorado Northwestern is 4-23, 0-12. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Ne’quan Brown 9-14 1-2 20, Nyale Robinson 0-2 2-4 2, Cody Wright 0-1 1-2 1, Austin Ouko 7-17 4-4 21, Gage Ontiveros 2-4 0-1 4, Ace Arnold 0-2 1-2 1, Ajayi Simmons 8-13 2-2 19, Cason Miller 0-2 0-0 0, Sawyr Hansen 0-1 0-0 0, Justus Haseley 1-3 2-2 4, Aly Toure 3-5 2-2 8. Totals 30-64 15-21 80. 

COLORADO NORTHWESTERN 

Gibson Walton 4-10 0-0 10, Carter Killian 3-11 0-0 9, Brandon Avance 5-12 0-0 12, Jaden Fitzhugh 3-6 0-2 6, Finn Powelson 1-8 0-0 3, Jordan Jones 5-13 7-8 20, Lincoln Johnson 0-3 0-0 0, Jamison Thomson 5-7 0-0 10. Totals 26-70 7-10 70. 

Halftime — NIC 39-36. 3-point goals — NIC 5-28 (N. Brown 1-6, Robinson 0-2, Ouko 3-12, Arnold 0-2, Simmons 1-3, Miller 0-1, Haseley 0-2), CNCC 11-35 (Walton 2-4, Killian 3-7, Avance 2-7, Fitzhugh 0-2, Powelson 1-5, Jones 3-7, Johnson 0-3). Rebounds — NIC 46 (N. Brown 14), CNCC 26 (Fitzhugh 11). Assists — NIC 19 (N. Brown 7), CNCC 17 (Killian, Jones 5). Team fouls — NIC 15, CNCC 18. Fouled out — Walton. Technical fouls — N. Brown, Walton. 

• WOMEN

North Idaho 73 

Colorado Northwestern 48 

RANGELY, Colo. — The Cardinals outscored the Spartans 22-9 in the third quarter to pull away for the Scenic West Athletic Conference win at Hefley Arena. 

“I felt like we didn’t play well in the first half,” said NIC coach Nathan Covill, whose team led 33-26 at halftime. “We were just kind of unorganized.” 

Freshman Karsyn Freeman had 21 points and sophomore Chloe Collin had 13 points and seven rebounds for NIC, which had 11 offensive rebounds and shot 30 of 64. Diana Nelson, a freshman from Timberlake High, had 11 points and five rebounds for NIC, which hosts College of Southern Idaho next Saturday. 

“Chloe and Diana really got us going in the third quarter,” Covill said. “Diana did a good job of cleaning up the glass and Summer (Faleafa) hit some shots. We did a good job of sharing the ball and not worrying about who was scoring.” 

NIC (10-15, 5-7) remains ahead of Snow (15-11, 3-8) for the fourth and final playoff spot. The teams will play at Rolly Williams Court on Feb. 26. 

“This road trip wasn’t easy on anyone,” said Covill, whose team had been on the road since Feb. 6. “We got here yesterday evening and it’s a quick turnaround. I’m proud of how they competed. We did what we had to do to maintain our chance to get into the playoffs.” 

Colorado Northwestern is 1-26, 0-12. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 5-10 2-2 13, Karsyn Freeman 9-15 1-1 21, Diana Nelson 5-8 1-2 11, Summer Faleafa 4-10 3-4 13, Sari Murphy 3-7 1-1 7, Molly Axell 0-3 0-0 0, Liv Whitemarsh 2-7 0-2 4, Kaytie Aanstad 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 30-64 8-12 73. 

COLORADO NORTHWESTERN 

Natalie Pineda 3-10 0-0 7, Ariana Strain 1-4 1-2 3, Eden Erickson 3-3 0-0 7, Taylor Jones 8-27 1-3 17, Alicia Denard 1-2 0-0 2, Anessa Maefield 0-0 0-0 0, Bayleigh Walling 3-6 0-0 6, Shunbaah Begay 0-2 0-0 0, Cassandra Perez 3-3 0-0 6, Zayriela Garcia 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-59 2-5 48. 

North Idaho        23    10    22    18    —    73 

Colorado Northwestern    11    15    9    13    —    48 

3-point goals — NIC 5-13 (Collin 1-2, Freeman 2-2, Faleafa 2-3, Murphy 0-1, Axell 0-3, Whitemarsh 0-2), CNCC 2-17 (Pineda 1-7, Strain 0-1, Erickson 1-1, Jones 0-3, Walling 0-2, Begay 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 35 (Collin 7), CNCC 29 (Jones, Denard 6). Assists — NIC 16 (Freeman 5), CNCC 9 (Jones 6). Team fouls — NIC 9, CNCC 12. Fouled out — none.