NIC upsets Salt Lake, reaches title game

Austin Pope scored 18 points and handed out six assists and the third-seeded North Idaho men’s basketball team upset second-seeded Salt Lake 85-79 in a Region 18 tournament semifinal game Friday night in Price, Utah.

The Cardinals led by 12 at the half and made 13 of 15 second-half free throws to fend off the Bruins’ rally.

The win gave NIC (22-7) a spot in the championship game. The Cardinals will play top-seeded Southern Idaho tonight.

North Idaho’s Jamaal Robateau and Jordan King each added 16 points and Braian Angola-Rodas chipped in 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The Cardinals held a 52-33 rebounding advantage and made 19 of 22 from the free-throw line.

The win was NIC’s first against Salt Lake (25-5) in four tries this season.

Track and field

Trenton Osborn won the men’s long jump to lead Eastern Washington at the Big Sky Conference Championships in Flagstaff, Arizona.

His leap of 24 feet, 3 3/4 inches ranks third in school history. Osborn took second in the event at last year’s championships.

For the women, Emma Murillo and Kaytlyn Coleman took second and third, respectively, in the weight throw. Murillo’s toss of 62-3 1/4 is third-best in EWU history. Coleman reached a mark of 61-9 1/2.

Anandae Clark was second in the women’s pole vault after clearing 13-0 3/4.

The meet concludes today.

• Washington State’s Terrance Chambers took third place in the men’s 200-meter dash at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Championships in Seattle.

Chambers finished in a lifetime-best 21.42 seconds.

Danielle Darden led the WSU women with a fifth-place finish in the women’s 200. She finished in 24.17.

Kristine Felix was fifth in the pole vault (13-6 1/4).

The event continues today.

Baseball

Joe Pistorese was masterful through seven innings in guiding Washington State past UC Riverside 3-0 in the second game of a four-game nonconference series in Pullman.

The senior left-hander allowed just three hits, no walks and struck out five to claim his first victory of the season.

Cameron Frost led the Cougars (6-4) with two hits and two RBIs.

The series with UCR (5-6) continues today at 2 p.m.

• Gonzaga scored four runs in the top of the ninth but came up short in a 6-4 loss to Cal State Bakersfield at the Phoenix Classic in Phoenix.

The Bulldogs’ Nick Minteer had a two-run triple and Tyler Frost and Cory LeBrun each added RBI singles.

All four of GU’s runs in the ninth were unearned.

David Metzgar led Bakersfield (4-6) with three hits, two RBIs and a run scored.

Steven Gee shut down Gonzaga’s bats for most of the game. He earned his first win of the season after pitching 8 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits and the four unearned runs.

The Bulldogs (5-6) will wrap up play in the Phoenix Classic today against Arizona State.

Swimming

Washington State freshman Anna Brolin tied for fourth place in her heat in the 100 butterfly at the Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships in Federal Way, Washington.

Brolin finished in 54.18 seconds – fifth fastest in school history.

The Cougars are in eighth place heading into the final day today.

• Rachel Millet took third place in the 200 freestyle to lead the Idaho women at the Western Athletic Conference Championships in San Antonio, Texas. Millet finished in 1:49.67.

Jamie Sterbis was fourth in the 100 butterfly. She finished in 55.02 seconds, less than a second off her school record.

The event concludes today.

Junior hockey

Jeremy McNeil scored two third-period goals and the Castlegar Rebels beat the Spokane Braves 4-2 in Game 6 of a Kootenay International Junior Hockey League playoff series at Eagles Ice-A-Rena in Spokane.

The win gave Castlegar a 4-2 series win.

Danton Oliver and Paxton Malone scored second-period goals for Spokane.

The Rebels had a 43-28 shot advantage, including 19-6 in the third period.