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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Nic Can’t Keep Pace With Csi

As the clock ran down on College of Southern Idaho’s 102-76 win over North Idaho College in the men’s Region 18 Tournament championship game, a CSI fan made an observation.

“Golden Eagles basketball is back.”

About an hour before, the same fan had said: “We’re in trouble. North Idaho never misses.”

NIC didn’t miss much in the first half, but its shooting well finally tapped out in the second half as the Eagles pulled away for a 102-76 victory on Saturday night before a crowd of 2,500 at CSI’s gym.

It marked the end of NIC’s remarkable run in the tournament. The seventh-seeded Cards (18-15) had won two straight and pushed No. 1 CSI in the first half, leading by as many as four before slipping behind 44-39.

“We just couldn’t function offensively in the second half,” said NIC coach Rolly Williams, who was attempting to guide his club back to nationals for the first time since 1980. “They’re a high-powered club. It was the kind of game where you’ve got to score to keep up and we didn’t.”

After a rare down year in 1993-94, CSI (30-3) captured its ninth regional crown in 10 years and will move onto the national tournament March 14-18 at Hutchison, Kansas.

The Eagles had to work for their reward.

The first half will be remembered as Turner-Gray, Part III.

NIC guard Eddie Turner and CSI’s Ed Gray, the league and tournament MVP, dueled for the third time this season.

Turner won the first half, scoring 24 points, and probably the individual matchup. But Gray, who had 21 points but made only 8 of 23 shots, got the title as CSI swept NIC 3-0 this year. Gray is headed for California next year.

“We’re feeling good,” said Turner, whose outstanding tournament brought on a horde of recruiters.

“We’re sad right now, but I told our guys to keep their heads up. We played hard.”

Playing with the confidence that symbolized NIC’s late-season surge, NIC rallied from an early 14-7 deficit.

Troy Thompson, who had 12 points to cap a quality tourney performance, missed a dunk, which ignited snickering from the crowd. That subsided when Turner retrieved the ball and buried a 3-pointer.

Back-to-back Turner buckets put NIC up 26-22 with 9:45 left. CSI regained the lead on Rusty Yoder’s free throw at 34-33 before settling in at half 44-39.

“Eddie kept us in the game,” said center Roy Kruiswyk. “I wish we as a team could have kept us in it in the second half.”

“They shot well that first half, but I felt like we had to keep pounding on them,” said CSI coach Steve Irons. “Our bench, we’ve talked about them all year and they came through.”

Particularly in the second half.

Gray had an occasional high-flying layup, but it was Yoder, who uses a 1950s-like one-handed push shot, and athletic wings Melvin Claxton and Marcus Wallace that destroyed the Cards.

Leading 48-44, Yoder started and finished a CSI run with treys that resulted in a 70-56 advantage.

In between, there was a little Gray area, but Wallace hit the back-breakers with four buckets, including three putbacks.

NIC failed to mount a challenge. Turner’s shooting cooled and his teammates couldn’t fill the void. NIC was 12 of 44 from the field in the second half.

Once in a comfortable lead, CSI made NIC pay at the fould line. CSI made 33 of 39 free throws, and Shawn Bankhead scored 13 of his 19 at the stripe.

“If we could have gotten ahead …,” Williams said. “They’re a different team when they’re in the lead.”

Turner didn’t score until 4:43 remained in the second half. His hanging layup over Gray, who fouled on the play, trimmed CSI’s lead to 84-65, but the Eagles streaked away.

Williams was soft-spoken in the locker room. His team peaked at the perfect time, but simply ran into a strong club.

“When you look at the progress from November, when we lost to a Canadian team by 16 points, to now, it’s been steady,” he said, managing a smile.

Southern Idaho 102, North Idaho 76

North Idaho (18-15)

Dial 0-0 2-4 2, Helm 1-7 2-3 4, Snook 1-6 0-0 2, Thompson 4-12 2-2 12, Turner 12-24 1-1 29, Russinov 2-6 0-0 4, Sanchez 3-10 3-4 9, Palumbis 2-5 0-0 4, Kruiswyk 3-9 5-11 11, Beall 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-81 15-25 76.

Southern Idaho (30-3)

Yoder 4-6 1-1 12, Cooper 0-1 2-2 2, Brown 0-1 1-2 1, Gray 8-23 3-3 21, Keller 1-1 2-2 4, Bankhead 3-8 13-14 19, Lagemann 1-1 0-0 2, Claxton 4-5 7-8 15, Wallace 7-13 3-4 17, Anderson 2-2 1-2 6, Callender 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 31-65 33-39 102.

Halftime-CSI 44-39. 3-point goals-NIC 6-24 (Snook 0-2, Helm 0-3, Russinov 0-1, Turner 4-8, Thompson 2-5, Sanchez 0-3, Beall 0-1), CSI 6-13 (Gray 2-7, Yoder 3-4, Anderson 1-1). Rebounds-NIC 43 (Kruiswyk 11), CSI 41 ( Callender 14). Assists-NIC 9 (Turner, Snook, Sanchez each had 2), CSI 17 (Gray 6). Total fouls-NIC 25, CSI 21. Fouled out-Callender. Attendance-2,500.

MEMO: Cut in the Spokane edition.

Cut in the Spokane edition.