Cardinals Fall Short In Stretch Salt Lake Cc Deals North Idaho A Costly Conference Defeat

The North Idaho College men’s basketball team figured a sweep of its Scenic West Athletic Conference games this weekend would keep its hopes alive for an upper-division finish.

Now the Cardinals need a split to keep from slipping closer to the bottom rung of the postseason seeding ladder.

Or, perish the thought, out of a postseason scenario.

Salt Lake Community College weathered many storms to pull off a key road victory Thursday, tripping NIC 84-82 in a game worth watching at least for the finish.

Before a crowd of 1,006 at Christianson Gym, the Bruins took a 79-70 lead when Troy Ostler made two free throws with 47 seconds left.

Nathaniel Bailey ended a 3-minute scoring drought 13 seconds later when he made a 3-pointer to pull NIC within 79-73.

Two more 3-pointers after NIC was forced to send the Bruins to the free-throw line still had the Cardinals clinging to a hope of pulling off a stunning comeback.

When splendid Salt Lake guard Eddie Gill made just 1 of 2 foul shots with :10 remaining make it 83-79, NIC had another chance.

But too much time expired before Bailey buried another 3-pointer with 1 second left.

After the Bruins made one more free throw with 0.6 showing on the clock, a long downcourt pass couldn’t be corralled before the horn sounded.

SLCC, in a three-way tie atop the conference standings, moved to 8-2 in league, 18-4 overall. NIC fell to 3-7, 12-8.

Things started to fall apart for NIC long before its scoring problems at the end.

NIC used a 10-0 run to open the second half, building a 42-33 lead. The Cardinals enjoyed their biggest advantage at 51-41 when Bailey hit a 3-pointer at the 14:17 mark.

That’s when NIC’s offense blew a fuse when it couldn’t adjust to the Bruins’ zone defense. And the Cardinals could never fully rebound.

“We couldn’t get anyone to knock one down (against the zone),” NIC coach Hugh Watson said.

“It seemed like we went 20 minutes to me without a bucket.”

Watson said there was at least one positive that separated the loss from the stretch of six straight league losses.

“They didn’t quit, but still we didn’t win,” Watson said.

“(Their zone) took us completely out of our offense.”

Gill led three Bruins in double-figuring scoring with 23 points.

NIC post Steve Ryan was a work-horse inside, finishing with a game-high 26 and nine rebounds not to mention several bumps and bruises against the physical Bruins.

NIC returns Saturday to play host to Utah Valley. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.

Salt Lake 84, NIC 82

Salt Lake (8-4, 8-2) - Gill 7-13 5-6 23, Smith 0-1 8-10 8, Ramsay 1-1 0-0 2, Miller 2-3 0-0 4, Ostler 6-11 6-7 19, Hastings 2-2 1-1 5, Soares 1-5 0-0 3, Robinson 1-3 0-1 2, Erickson 4-8 4-6 14, Neboh 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 26-50 24-31 84.

North Idaho (12-8, 3-7) - Johnson 6-12 1-3 14, Bailey 4-16 4-6 15, Goodman 0-9 4-4 4, Brosseau 0-0 0-0 0, Houston 5-7 2-2 12, Clay 0-3 0-0 0, Watson 2-12 0-0 6, Fisher 0-0 3-4 3, Al-Arorey 0-1 2-4 2, Ryan 7-16 12-14 26. Totals 24-76 28-37 82.

Halftime - SLCC 33, NIC 32. 3-point goals - SLCC 8-13 (Gill 4-6, Ostler 1-1, Soares 1-2 Erickson 2-4); NIC 6-21 (Johnson 1-2, Bailey 3-6, Goodman 0-5, Clay 0-2, Watson 2-6). Total fouls - SLCC 28, NIC 19. Fouled out - Miller, Soares. Technical fouls - none. Rebounds - SLCC 40 (Erickson 8); NIC 36 (Ryan 9). Assists - SLCC 23 (Smith 6); NIC 13 (Goodman 5). Att - 1,006.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Coming up The North Idaho College men play host to Utah Valley Saturday at 7:30 p.m.