Nic Starts Fast, Coasts Past Ricks

Rarely has North Idaho College men’s basketball coach Rolly Williams seen his team play better.

Or worse. Or better.

NIC scored the first 23 points, then endured a lull with a dominating second half en route to a 90-66 win over Ricks in Scenic West Athletic Conference action before 1,600 at Christianson Gym Saturday.

NIC (19-2 overall) improved to 7-2 in the SWAC. Ricks is 11-11, 3-6.

“The first 10 minutes, holy cow, we just destroyed them,” Williams said. “Then it was, ‘How bad can we look?’ In the second half, we played really well again.”

Go figure.

NIC was faultless the first six minutes. Ricks coughed up eight turnovers against NIC’s 1-3-1 trap and the Cardinals converted most of the miscues into points.

Center Kevin Byrne, starting in place of Roy Kruiswyk, who has been slowed by a leg injury, had nine points in the early burst.

NIC’s lead was 16-0 when one fan wisecracked: “Let’s shut ‘em out.” The margin grew to 23-0 before Ricks’ Mark Garrett connected with 13:42 left.

The Cardinals’ padded the lead to 32-4 with 7:32 to play, but Ricks dominated the rest of the half. Guard Josh Zentner made three 3-pointers as the Vikings clawed back to trail 43-31 at half.

“I really chewed on our guys at half because we had them in a very difficult position and we could have put a lid on it,” Williams said. “To their credit, Ricks fought back.”

Steve Helm and Eric Sanchez keyed NIC’s 15-2 run early in the second half that finally buried the Vikings. In the spurt, Sanchez had two baskets, a steal and an assist while Helm tallied seven points.

Darnell McCoy elevated to the top floor to dunk Helm’s alley-oop pass and give NIC a 60-36 advantage.

Ricks never stopped playing hard, but could only trade buckets in the last 10 minutes.

Dave Isaacson led the Vikings with 15 points and Zentner chipped in 12.

NIC’s Troy Thompson scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half. Sanchez finished with 13 points, six boards, seven assists and a pair of steals. Helm added 13 points and six assists.

Williams lauded Byrne’s 13-point, 10-rebound effort.

“He really had a fine game,” Williams said. Kruiswyk, in limited minutes, scored seven points.

Williams said reserve guard Tijuan Dial has quit the team.

North Idaho 90, Ricks 66

Ricks (11-11, 3-6) Cox 1-5 0-0 2, Zenter 4-8 12, Wade 1-1 3, Moore 3-6 3-4 10, Nolan 0-1 0, Isaacson 6-10 3-6 15, Tollestrup 0-4 0, Taylor 2-5 5, Porter 3-10 3-6 9, Goodel 0-3 0, Greene 0-1 2-2 2, Wilcox 3-4 6, Garrett 1-2 2. Totals 24-60 11-18 66.

North Idaho (19-2, 7-2) - Hall 0-5 0, Helm 5-9 3-3 13, Cunningham 0-1 0, Thompson 9-17 5-7 23, Rapier 3-5 1-2 7, McCoy 4-6 10, Byrne 3-5 7-9 13, Robertson 2-4 4, Kruiswyk 3-5 1-2 7, Sanchez 6-12 13. Totals 35-69 17-23 90.

Halftime - NIC 43, Ricks 31.3-point goals - Ricks 7-18 (Zentner 4-7, Wade 1-1, Moore 1-2, Nolan 0-1, Isaacson 0-1, Tollestrup 0-1, Taylor 1-3, Porter 0-2), NIC 3-12 (Hall 0-2, Cunningham 0-1, McCoy 2-4, Robertson 0-1, Sanchez 1-4). Total fouls - Ricks 22, NIC 18. Technical fouls - none. Fouled out - none. Rebounds - Ricks 33 (Wilcox 5), NIC 42 (Byrne 10). Assists - Ricks 18 (Zentner 5), NIC 25 (Sanchez 7).

, DataTimes