NIC BASKETBALL: Cardinal men defend, but struggle to score in loss

• MEN

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — North Idaho College shot 20 of 67 from the field, including 6 of 21 from the 3-point line in an 81-62 Scenic West Athletic Conference loss to the Salt Lake Community College Bruins at Bruin Arena on Thursday. 

“We played pretty well, but just can’t seem to put the ball in the basket right now,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “We probably missed 16 from inside the charge circle, and just had a tough time scoring. I was pretty happy with our defense and we’re doing the right things. We just need to play more team-oriented basketball, and that starts with me. We just need to get back to the white board and fix some things.” 

Aly Toure, a freshman from Mali, had 12 points 14 rebounds for NIC (10-7, 0-2 SWAC). 

Makuei Riek, a redshirt sophomore transfer from Fairfield University, had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Salt Lake (8-9, 1-2). 

Grant Roth, a redshirt freshman from Lakeland High, had two points in two minutes for Salt Lake. 

NIC faces Colorado Northwestern in Rangely, Colo., on Saturday. Colorado Northwestern lost 96-50 to College of Southern Idaho in other conference play on Thursday. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Ne’quan Brown 3-8 0-0 7, Nyale Robinson 0-4 0-0 0, Austin Ouko 5-15 0-2 12, Gage Ontiveros 2-4 0-0 4, Justus Haseley 2-9 2-4 7, Vander Brown 1-1 0-0 3, Ace Arnold 0-2 2-2 2, Ajayi Simmons 3-13 3-4 10, Cody Wright 0-0 1-2 1, Cason Miller 0-3 2-2 2, Sawyr Hansen 0-0 0-2 0, Aly Toure 4-8 4-7 12, Jacori Ervin 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 20-67 16-27 62. 

SALT LAKE 

Makuei Riek 5-13 7-8 18, Danny Young Jr. 6-14 0-0 15, Nick Jefferson 5-11 0-0 10, Lantz Stephenson 3-7 1-3 8, Braden Heaton 1-1 2-2 4, Nick Clark 0-2 0-0 0, Daye Kaba 5-8 2-2 14, Jaxon Heiden 2-3 0-0 4, Connor Nielsen 0-0 1-2 1, Grant Roth 0-1 0-0 0, Duncan Reid 1-4 0-0 3, Reggie Larsen 2-4 0-2 4. Totals 30-68 13-19 81. 

Halftime — SLCC 35-25. 3-point goals — NIC 6-21 (N. Brown 1-1, Robinson 0-2, Ouko 2-10, Haseley 1-2, V. Brown 1-1, Arnold 0-1, Simmons 1-3, Miller 0-1), SLCC 8-27 (Riek 1-4, Young Jr. 3-6, Jefferson 0-2, Stephenson 1-4, Clark 0-2, Kaba 2-2, Heiden 0-1, Roth 0-1, Reid 1-4, Larsen 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 58 (Toure 14), SLCC 37 (Riek 11). Assists — NIC 12 (Haseley 5), SLCC 15 (Jefferson 5). Team fouls — NIC 16, SLCC 25. Fouled out — Kaba, Heiden. Technical fouls — N. Brown, V. Brown, NIC team, Young Jr. 

• WOMEN

Salt Lake 73 

North Idaho 58 

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — Freshman Karsyn Freeman scored on a layup to open the third quarter to pull the Cardinals within 40-36, but the Bruins, ranked 20th in the latest NJCAA poll, went on a 10-0 run over the next five minutes to pull away in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game at Bruin Arena. 

“We did a good job of taking care of the ball in the first half and were attacking off the dribble and getting downhill,” NIC coach Nathan Covill said. “We got a little loose with the ball in the second half, and it kind of opened things up a little bit. I was really happy with how the girls played. We came on the road and competed our tails off. They just switched a little more and pressured the ball really well and we didn’t handle it as well.” 

Freeman, a freshman guard from Adna, Wash., had 27 points for NIC (5-10, 0-2 SWAC). Freeman scored three seconds into the second half before the Bruins (13-5, 2-1) held the Cardinals scoreless until a basket by sophomore Chloe Collin with 5:19 remaining in the quarter. 

NIC faces Colorado Northwestern in Rangely, Colo., on Saturday. The Spartans fell 92-38 to visiting College of Southern Idaho in other conference play on Thursday. 

NORTH IDAHO  

Chloe Collin 3-7 8-8 14, Karsyn Freeman 11-19 4-4 27, Diana Nelson 2-3 3-6 7, Ripeka Edwards 0-4 1-2 1, Summer Faleafa 2-7 1-4 5, Liv Whitemarsh 0-0 0-0 0, Sari Murphy 1-2 0-0 2, Kaytie Aanstad 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-44 17-24 58. 

SALT LAKE  

Simran Williams 1-6 0-0 3, Lyla Kahrimanovic 7-13 2-2 19, Ines Babaya 5-11 1-1 11, Tahys Da Sliva 6-14 1-1 15, Oyinkansola Soetan 3-12 2-5 8, Analeise Maharaj 2-2 0-0 6, Calonni Holloway 1-2 2-2 4, Ahnica Russell-Brown 1-1 0-0 3, Nani Tuigamala 0-0 0-0 0, Maria Ignatchenko 1-1 2-2 4. Totals 27-62 10-13 73. 

North Idaho    17    17    14    10    —    58 

Salt Lake    18    22    24    9    —    73 

3-point goals — NIC 1-7 (Collin 0-1, Freeman 1-4, Faleafa 0-2), SLCC 9-20 (Williams 1-1, Kahrimanovic 3-5, Babaya 0-4, Da Silva 2-6, Maharaj 2-2, Holloway 0-1, Russell-Brown 1-1). Rebounds — NIC 33 (Collin 7), SLCC 31 (Kahrimanovic 8). Assists — NIC 5 (Faleafa 2), SLCC 9 (Kahrimanovic, Babaya, Da Silva 2). Team fouls — NIC 17, SLCC 21. Fouled out — none.