NIC BASKETBALL: Cardinal men fall to No. 23 Utah State-Eastern

• MEN'S BASKETBALL

COEUR d’ALENE — North Idaho College freshman Ace Arnold converted on three free throws with 54 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 69-66 with 54 seconds remaining, but the No. 23 Utah State-Eastern Eagles pulled away in the final seconds and won at NIC for the first time in 18 years, 76-71 in Scenic West Athletic Conference play at Rolly Williams Court on Thursday. 

NIC coach Corey Symons was called for a technical foul after arguing a goaltending call with 29 seconds remaining, and Utah State-Eastern's Adam Grissom hit the two technical free throws to extend the lead to 73-66. NIC missed a pair of 3-point attempts in the final 20 seconds. 

“Our guys played hard and really well,” said Symons, who received two technical fouls in the game and will serve a one-game suspension for Saturday’s game against visiting Snow. “It was tough to get into a rhythm tonight. I was sticking up for my guys and couldn’t let them go out like that.” 

Aly Toure, a freshman from Mali, had 20 points and 15 rebounds for NIC, which led 37-27 at halftime. Nyale Robinson, a freshman from Seattle, had 13 points for the Cardinals (11-8, 1-3 SWAC). 

NIC hosts top-ranked Snow (18-1, 3-1) of Ephraim, Utah, on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Badgers fell to Southern Idaho (18-1, 4-0) 84-76 in Twin Falls in other SWAC play on Thursday. 

Isaac Castagnetto scored 24 points for Utah State-Eastern (16-3, 3-1), which won at NIC for the first time since Jan. 10, 2008 (89-72). 

“They’re good and a Top 20 team in the country,” said Symons, who was an assistant coach under Jared Phay that season. “They run a matchup zone and they’re active on the defensive end. We’ve just got to do better and make our free throws.” 

UTAH STATE-EASTERN 

Seven Bahati 2-4 5-8 10, Kayin Turner 2-5 4-4 10, Ike Palmer 3-11 7-8 13, Ethen Stoddard 2-4 0-2 4, Isaac Castagnetto 8-16 5-8 24, Adam Grissom 2-5 4-4 10, Weston Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Easton Duft 0-0 0-0 0, Liam Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Robbie Yates 0-4 0-0 0, Bowen Davies 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-54 25-34 74. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Ne’quan Brown 1-6 0-2 3, Nyale Robinson 4-6 3-6 13, Austin Ouko 3-6 2-4 11, Gage Ontiveros 3-6 2-5 8, Aly Toure 7-12 6-10 20, Ace Arnold 3-10 3-3 11, Cody Wright 0-2 0-0 0, Cason Miller 0-2 2-2 2, Sawyr Hansen 1-1 1-2 3, Justus Haseley 0-2 0-1 0, Jacori Ervin 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 22-54 19-37 71. 

Halftime — NIC 37-27. 3-point goals — USUE 9-21 (Bahati 1-1, Turner 2-4, Palmer 0-2, Castagnetto 4-6, Grissom 2-4, Johnson 0-1, Yates 0-3), NIC 8-27 (N. Brown 1-6, Robinson 2-4, Ouko 3-6, Arnold 2-8, Wright 0-1, Miller 0-1, Haseley 0-1). Rebounds — USUE 21 (Palmer, Castagnetto 5), NIC 44 (Toure 15). Assists — USUE 7 (Castagnetto 2), NIC 7 (Robinson, Toure 2). Team fouls — USUE 29, NIC 22. Fouled out — Brown. Technical fouls — Bahati, Robinson, Toure, NIC team 2. 

• WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Utah State-Eastern 58 

North Idaho 46 

COEUR d’ALENE — Freshman Liv Whitemarsh hit a jumper with 2:02 remaining in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 39-37 for the Cardinals, who went on to lose to the Eagles of Price, Utah, in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game at Rolly Williams Court. 

“We’ve done a lot of good things on defense in the last three games, but we keep shooting ourselves in the foot offensively,” NIC coach Nathan Covill said. “This one hurts because they’re averaging 75 points per game and we were right there with them.” 

Karsyn Freeman, a freshman from Adna, Wash., had 12 points and eight rebounds for NIC, which shot 17 of 52. Diana Nelson, a freshman from Timberlake High, had 11 points and five rebounds for the Cardinals. 

“Offensively, we just sputtered and couldn’t figure out how to get the ball to Chloe (Collin) and Summer (Faleafa)," Covill said. "Both Liv and Diana played some good minutes. We’re close to putting it together.” 

NIC (6-11, 1-3 SWAC) hosts Snow College of Ephraim, Utah, on Saturday. 

Avery Sanders scored 10 points for Utah State-Eastern (13-6, 4-0), which remains tied with College of Southern Idaho for the conference lead. CSI (18-1, 4-0) beat Snow (13-6, 1-3) 72-49 in other conference play on Thursday in Twin Falls.  

UTAH STATE-EASTERN 

Avery Sanders 4-7 2-4 10, Addasyn Scrivner 4-11 1-2 9, Umu Tukufau 2-7 2-4 6, Marlee Pieper 4-11 2-4 11, Skylie Barker 2-9 4-5 8, Brynn Wagner 0-1 0-0 0, Aubrey Mulitalo 0-5 0-0 0, Mia Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Analya Nelson 2-4 0-0 5, Logyn Howell 0-3 0-2 0, Alyssa Whittaker 2-3 2-2 7. Totals 21-64 13-23 58. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 3-8 0-0 7, Karsyn Freeman 5-14 2-4 12, Diana Nelson 5-10 1-2 11, Ripeka Edwards 0-2 0-0 0, Summer Faleafa 0-4 1-2 1, Molly Axell 1-2 0-0 3, Liv Whitemarsh 2-6 1-2 5, Sari Murphy 0-4 4-4 4, Kaytie Aanstad 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 17-52 10-16 46. 

Utah State-Eastern    17    17    7    17    —    58 

North Idaho        10    14    13    9    —    46 

3-point goals — USUE 3-21 (Sanders 0-1, Scrivner 0-3, Tukuafu 0-3, Pieper 1-5, Barker 0-2, Mulitalo 0-3, Nelson 1-2, Howell 0-1, Whittaker 1-2), NIC 2-11 (Collin 1-2, Edwards 0-1, Faleafa 0-2, Axell 1-2, Whitemarsh 0-3, Murphy 0-1). Rebounds — USUE 39 (Pieper 8), NIC 34 (Freeman 8). Assists — USUE 7 (Sanders, Scrivner, Barker 2), NIC 5 (Freeman, Edwards 2). Team fouls — USUE 15, NIC 22. Fouled out — none.