NIC ROUNDUP: Cardinal men press past Colorado Northwestern

•  MEN'S BASKETBALL

RANGELY, Colo. — After taking a few shots to start Scenic West Athletic Conference play, the North Idaho College men’s basketball team wanted to land a shot of its own. 

Ne’quan Brown, a sophomore from Tacoma, Wash., scored a game-high 18 points for the Cardinals in an 81-55 win over the Colorado Northwestern Spartans on Saturday. 

“We wanted to come out and be more aggressive on both ends of the floor and get the game up and down the court,” said NIC coach Corey Symons, who had three starters in double figures. “We did a good job of punching them in the mouth and being aggressive.” 

Freshman Austin Ouko and sophomore Gage Ontiveros added 16 points each for NIC (11-7, 1-2 SWAC), which shot 29 of 55 and finished with 13 assists. 

“We moved the ball really well,” said Symons, whose team was without sophomore Ajayi Simmons, who injured his wrist against Salt Lake on Thursday and did not play on Saturday. “We had some guys come off the bench and give us a spark. It was a good team win, which was something we needed.” 

Trey Johnson scored 15 points for Colorado Northwestern (4-15, 0-4). 

NIC hosts Utah State-Eastern, which is ranked 23rd in this week’s NJCAA poll, on Thursday. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Ne’quan Brown 7-12 1-2 18, Nyale Robinson 1-2 0-0 2, Austin Ouko 4- 8-9 16, Sawyr Hansen 2-5 5-8 9, Gage Ontiveros 8-11 0-0 16, Ace Arnold 2-3 0-0 6, Cody Wright 1-3 0-0 2, Cason Miller 2-4 0-0 5, Justus Haseley 1-3 2-2 5, Aly Toure 1-4 0-1 2. Totals 29-55 16-22 81. 

COLORADO NORTHWESTERN 

Gibson Walton 4-9 0-0 10, Carter Killian 3-14 2-2 8, Trey Johnson 5-10 2-4 15, Jaden Fitzhugh 2-4 2-2 6, Mayson Jeppsen 1-2 0-1 2, Jordan Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Brandon Avance 2-3 1-3 5, Lincoln Johnson 1-1 0-0 3, Finn Powelson 1-2 0-0 2, Jamison Thomson 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 21-51 7-11 55. 

Halftime — NIC 38-25. 3-point goals — NIC 7-11 (N. Brown 3-4, Robinson 0-1, Hansen 0-1, Arnold 2-2, Miller 1-1, Haseley 1-2), CNCC 6-11 (Walton 2-3, Killian 0-2, T. Johnson 3-5, L. Johnson 1-1). Rebounds — NIC 38 (N. Brown, Ouko 8), CNCC 20 (Killian 4). Assists — NIC 13 (Robinson 5), CNCC 9 (Jeppsen 3). Team fouls — NIC 15, CNCC 19. Fouled out — none. 

• WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

North Idaho 72 

Colorado Northwestern 49 

RANGELY, Colo. — Summer Faleafa, a sophomore from Auckland, New Zealand, had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Cardinals in a Scenic West Athletic Conference win over the Spartans to snap a four-game losing streak. 

Freshman Kaytie Aanstad from Scobey, Mont., had 12 points and Diana Nelson, a freshman from Timberlake High, added 11 points for the Cardinals. 

“We got a lot of deflections that led to fast breaks in the first half,” NIC coach Nathan Covill said. “Summer, Diana and Kaytie had a good night scoring the ball. We really shared the ball well in the first half and I was glad we were able to take care of the ball well enough to get a win.” 

NIC (6-10, 1-2 SWAC) hosts Utah State-Eastern on Thursday. 

Colorado Northwestern is 1-18, 0-4. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 2-7 2-2 6, Karsyn Freeman 3-11 0-0 6, Diana Nelson 5-5 1-1 11, Ripeka Edwards 1-2 0-0 2, Summer Faleafa 6-9 2-4 17, Molly Axell 3-8 0-0 8, Liv Whitemarsh 3-5 0-0 8, Sari Murphy 0-1 2-2 2, Kaytie Aanstad 6-6 0-0 12. Totals 29-54 7-9 72. 

COLORADO NORTHWESTERN 

Shyann Fabes 5-9 1-1 12, Ariana Strain 3-7 0-0 7, Eden Erickson 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Jones 5-15 3-4 13, Alicia Denard 0-1 0-0 0, Alivia Hutton 2-5 2-4 7, Anessa Maefield 0-1 0-0 0, Bayleigh Walling 0-2 1-2 1, Shunbaah Begay 0-0 0-0 0, Natalie Pineda 3-5 0-0 9, Zavriela Garcia 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-46 7-11 49. 

North Idaho        23    20    14    15    —    72 

Colorado Northwestern    8    11    12    18    —    49 

3-point goals — NIC 7-17 (Collin 0-3, Edwards 0-1, Faleafa 3-5, Axell 2-5, Whitemarsh 2-3), CNCC 6-18 (Farbes 1-2, Strain 1-4, Jones 0-3, Hutton 1-2, Maefield 0-1, Walling 0-2, Pineda 3-4). Rebounds — NIC 33 (Faleafa 8), NIC 22 (Denard 5). Assists — NIC 15 (Freeman 7), CNCC 7 (Pineda 2). Team fouls — NIC 12, CNCC 10. Fouled out — none. 

• WRESTLING

NIC finishes fifth 

at NJCAA Duals 

MIAMI, Okla. — Owen Pritchard (125 pounds) and Parker Ballantyne (141) had pins for the Cardinals, who beat host Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 30-15 to finish fifth in the NJCAA Coaches Duals tournament. 

NIC, ranked sixth in the latest NJCAA poll, fell to sixth-ranked Clackamas 28-9 in a quarterfinal match earlier on Saturday, then beat Cowley College of Arkansas City, Kan., 29-23 to move into the fifth-place match. 

The Cardinals won six of eight duals at the two-day event.

Colton Tucker, a freshman from Coeur d’Alene High, went 3-0 on Saturday, 6-1 in the tournament at 157 for NIC. Colton Theobald (165) also went 3-0 on Saturday for NIC, which travels to face Clackamas on Friday in Oregon City, Ore. 

QUARTERFINALS 

CLACKAMAS 28, NORTH IDAHO 9

125 — Kelby Bernard, Clackamas, tf. Owen Pritchard, 16-1. 133 — Jeremiah Wachsmuth, Clackamas, by forfeit. 141 — Cade McCallister, Clackamas, d. Parker Ballantyne, 7-6. 149 — Reggie Raiz, Clackamas, md. Joe Sullivan, 11-0. 157 — Colton Tucker, NIC, d. Jesse Gutierrez, 13-10. 165 — Colton Theobald, NIC, d. Aaron Concepcion, 11-5. 174 — Henry Dillingham, Clackamas, d. Dylan Block, 10-3. 184 — Lusiano Lopez, Clackamas, md. Seth Martin, 16-8. 197 — Elijah Josey, Clackamas, d. Jackson Lougen, 4-1. 285 — Ray Griffin, NIC, d. Mark Marin, 4-2.  

CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS 

NORTH IDAHO 29, COWLEY COLLEGE 23

125 — Colt Collett, Cowley, p. Owen Pritchard, 2:04. 133 — Cam Kiser, Cowley, by forfeit. 141 — Evan Rodriguez, Cowley, p. Curtis Bartley, 5:15. 149 — Korbin Churchran, NIC, tf. Toby West, 15-0. 157 — Colton Tucker, NIC, md. Greyson Zellers, 10-2. 165 — Colton Theobald, NIC, tf. Ryker Agee, 17-1. 174 — Jaxon Trotter, Crowley, tf. Andre Leota, 17-2. 184 — Seth Martin, NIC, by forfeit. 197 — Jackson Lougen, NIC, d. Jason Osgood, 9-7. 285 — Ray Griffin, NIC, p. Easton Malone, 1:47. 

FIFTH-PLACE MATCH 

NORTH IDAHO 30, NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA A&M 15

125 — Owen Pritchard, NIC, p. Mason Gillispie, 1:39. 133 — Logan Crawford, NEO, by forfeit. 141 — Parker Ballantyne, NIC, d. Tyler Misenheimer, 9-6. 149 — Ethan Pappan, NEO, d. Joe Sullivan, 5-4. 157 — Colton Tucker, NIC, d. Kadence Roop, 5-4. 165 — Colton Theobald, NIC, tf. Tony Stewart, 15-0. 174 — Dylan Block, NIC, tf. Ashon Foster, 17-2. 184 — Seth Martin, NIC, md. Ethan Nicholas, 8-0. 197 — Jackson Lougen, NIC, md. Elizer Bojorquez-Soto, 11-3. 285 — Jude Beers, NEO, p. Ray Griffin, 3:47.