No. 7 Ucla Squeaks Past Thunder

Toby Bailey scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds as No. 7 UCLA edged NBC Thunder 76-74 Wednesday night in a college basketball exhibition.

Rico Hines had 16 points, while Baron Davis had 12 and Earl Watson added 11 points for UCLA, which opens its regular season Thursday against North Carolina in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout.

Shann Ferch had 29 points for NBC Thunder, a Spokane-based touring club of former college players.

Vandals sign two

University of Idaho men’s basketball coach Dave Farrar completed his first recruiting class Wednesday when the Vandals announced the signing of Kaniel Dickens and Devon Ford. Both were prep standouts in Denver before playing junior-college basketball.

Dickens, 6-foot-8 and 215 pounds, is a freshman at Tyler (Texas) JC. At Denver’s East High, he averaged 14 points and eight rebounds. He’ll have three years of eligibility at Idaho.

Ford, a 6-3 guard, completed his eligibility at Northeastern JC in Sterling, Colo., last winter. He averaged 24 points, eight rebounds and two steals per game and was an NJCAA second-team all-American.

BSU-UI tickets available

More general admission tickets have been made available to the public for the Idaho-Boise State football game Saturday in the Kibbie Dome.

Tickets are $14 for individuals, $30 for a family pass (two adults and as many as three children high school age and under). Reserve seats are still available for $18.

Swim meet set

The annual Turkey Trot Invitational Swim Meet begins Friday and runs through Sunday at the Whitworth College Aquatic Center.

The age-group event, hosted by Spokane Area Swimming, will draw 500 swimmers from Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Canada and Washington.

Session times are 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, followed by morning (8:30-12:30) and afternoon (1:30 p.m.6 p.m.) sessions on Saturday and Sunday.

, DataTimes MEMO: Changed from the Idaho edition.