Southern Idaho flogs NIC
College of Southern Idaho’s second- and third-leading scorers didn’t score in the first half. In fact, three of Golden Eagles’ starters were scoreless – and they still led by 12 at intermission.
More than anything, that showed CSI’s depth, which coupled with a deadly 3-point shooting display, was more than enough to handle North Idaho College 100-87 in Scenic West Athletic Conference men’s basketball Saturday at Christianson Gym.
The Cardinals, who fell to 9-5, 1-2 in the SWAC, never led and only mildly threatened after the fourth-ranked Golden Eagles went on a 9-0 spurt midway through the first half, fueled by – what else? – 3-pointers by Zarryon Feretti and Nick Hansen.
CSI (11-0, 3-0) hit 10 3-pointers in the first half and 19 of 36 treys for the game. Three reserves – Travis Gabbidon, Feretti and Hansen – combined for 12 3-pointers.
“Every open look they got it seemed like they made,” NIC coach Jared Phay said. “Did they miss any? And it wasn’t like it was just one guy so you could focus on stopping one guy.”
The Golden Eagles’ bench was huge in the first half. CSI’s starters shot 3 of 18 from the field while the backups made 13 of 22, helping the Golden Eagles to a 46-34 halftime lead.
“You have to give it to our guys,” CSI coach Gib Arnold said. “I’d like to say we diagrammed some outstanding plays, but they were just making great plays out there. We’re pretty dangerous when we’re shooting like that.”
NIC’s effort never wavered but its passing and free-throw shooting was sometimes unreliable. The Cardinals missed five of six free throws late in the first half and couldn’t cut into an eight-point deficit. The Cardinals had nine turnovers and gave up 10 offensive rebounds, which led to CSI attempting 16 more shots than NIC in the opening half.
The second half began ominously for NIC when the Golden Eagles’ Jamaal Brown, who averages a team-high 18.4 points, got just his second bucket – a 3-pointer in the first 35 seconds. Hansen and Feretti added consecutive 3s to boost CSI’s lead to 68-44 with 13:19 remaining.
CSI’s Mohamed Kone, a 6-11 center who came in averaging 14.1 points and 8.6 rebounds, didn’t score until the second half and finished with just six points and six rebounds. It hardly mattered with the bench production of Feretti (22 points), Hansen (16), Gabbidon (14) and Abdoulaye Ndiave (12).
Brown heated up to finish with 17 points and 14 assists.
CSI has opened SWAC play with three consecutive road wins.
“When the schedule came out and I saw that we had to go to Snow and North Idaho I was like, ‘Oh my goodness,’ ” Arnold said. “It’s nice to get out of those places with a couple of wins.”
NIC’s bench played well, too, with Shea Bradshaw connecting on five 3-pointers en route to 26 points. Forward Harry Disy was strong in the first half, scoring nine of his 11 points.
But NIC couldn’t make a sustained run, in part because of some shaky decision-making and CSI’s tight defensive pressure.
NIC used a 3-point spree of its own to make it somewhat interesting late in the second half. Bradshaw’s two free throws trimmed CSI’s lead to 90-76 with 3:47 to play, but CSI quickly broke NIC’s press and Ndiave finished with a one-handed dunk. Shaun Davis delivered a deflating 3-pointer and CSI’s lead was back to 95-77 at the 3-minute mark.
“We’re still making little mistakes that we need to correct,” Phay said. “We’re still finding our roles and we don’t have the experience that a lot of these teams do.”
Foluke Tobin and Darin Nagle each had 15 points for the Cardinals.