Area roundup: Northern Illinois holds off Vandals

Laytwan Porter scored a dozen points and Northern Illinois defeated Idaho for the third straight year, beating the Vandals 63-49 in nonconference play on Wednesday night in Dekalb, Illinois.

The Huskies now are 3-0 to start the season, with all three wins coming at home.

Levi Bradley’s jumper with 20 seconds left got Northern Illinois even, 21-21 at the half and Porter’s trey with 17:18 left in the game gave the Huskies the lead for good, 30-27.

Bradley gave the Huskies their largest lead, 56-44, on a layup with 2:59 left.

Brayon Blake scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Idaho (1-1) and Victor Sanders added 14 points.

The Vandals were 18 of 57 from the field (31.6 percent) and 4 of 26 from beyond the arc.

Junior hockey

Six Spokane Chiefs were named to the National Hockey League Central Scouting “Players to Watch” list for next summer’s NHL Entry Draft.

Chiefs goalie Dawson Weatherill was joined by forwards Kailer Yamamoto, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Ethan McIndoe, Pavel Kousal and Jake McGrew.

Football

Washington State Cougars left guard Cody O’Connell has been named one of five semifinalists for the Outland Trophy, the Football Writers Association of America, announced.

O’Connell, a red-shirt junior from Wenatchee, Washington, is the first Cougar to be chosen as a semifinalist since Rien Long won the award in 2002.

Volleyball

Idaho Vandals sophomore Sarah Sharp was named to the Big Sky Conference second team as voted by the conference’s coaches.

Sharp, an outside hitter, had a career-high 348 kills this season. She was 10th in the Big Sky with 3.05 kills per set.