Nic Rides Its Defense Past Dixie
The final statistics didn’t show the complete contributions of North Idaho College basketball player Eric Sanchez.
The 6-foot-4 sophomore finished with just four points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Nothing stellar in that line, but it was his fly-at-the-ball aggression in NIC’s often-smothering 1-3-1 halfcourt trap defense that drew high praise from coach Rolly Williams.
Sparked by defense in general, NIC stalled the ninth-ranked Dixie Rebels 88-72 in a Scenic West Athletic Conference men’s basketball game Saturday before a crowd estimated at 1,200 at Christianson Gym.
Sanchez picked up his fourth foul with 10:33 left and had to sit on the bench. But when he walked off the court and past Williams, the veteran coach stuck his hand out to applaud his defensive specialist.
“That’s why he starts for me,” said a smiling Williams, who could start a more offensively talented player with his deep bench. “Why is he starting? Because he’s tough, he goes 100 percent and gives you everything he’s got. He’s a helluva team man and plays his butt off. He goes in and stops people from scoring, that’s what he does.”
Four minutes before Sanchez picked up his fourth foul, Dixie’s Kawika Akina buried a 3-pointer to cut NIC’s lead to 50-49.
And 4 minutes later, NIC led 63-51 and was on its way to a sweep of its two-game SWAC homestand.
NIC improved to 3-1 in the SWAC and 12-1 overall. Dixie, which fell at Ricks College on Thursday (102-97), will most likely fall out of the NJCAA Division I poll after slipping to 2-2 and 14-2.
The Cardinals continued to clamp down on Dixie following Sanchez’s departure. NIC built its biggest lead to 74-55 with just under 8 minutes remaining.
Two free throws by Akina would pull the Rebels within 12 at 82-70 with 2:13 remaining, but Dixie would get no closer.
Dixie coach Dave Rose thought his team was guilty of unforced turnovers during the key stretch of the game. The Rebels committed 21 turnovers.
“They do a nice job in that trap, but we made some careless turnovers,” Rose said.
NIC had its troubles against Dixie’s defenses - especially against the Rebels’ matchup zone. The Cardinals committed 18 turnovers, 12 in the first half.
Neither team had sustained stretches of offensive brilliance, and that was due largely to defense.
Helm led NIC with 21 points, Darnell McCoy led a 30-point effort from the bench with 14, Gabriel Rapier had 13 and Roy Kruiswyk had 11.
, DataTimes