Cardinals Pull Off Escape Act Nic Men Topple Bossier In Overtime

In a hallway cluttered with basketball coaches, DePaul’s Joey Meyer offered North Idaho College’s Hugh Watson a handshake and a needle: “Never a doubt.”

Fred Trenkle, the former College of Southern Idaho coach now at San Diego State, was next to jab Watson: “Had it the whole way.”

Watson tried to go along, but his colorless face was a dead giveaway. NIC had to summon every ounce of its composure to outlast Bossier Parish 97-95 in overtime on Wednesday in the first round of the men’s NJCAA Tournament at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Watson, who saw an 11-point lead melt into a four-point deficit late in the second half. “That team beat (No. 2-ranked) San Jacinto earlier this season” but forfeited because it used an ineligible player.

“A helluva game,” NIC point guard Todd Myles summarized.

For some reason, courtside defibrillators weren’t provided.

NIC (29-4), ranked 13th in the final poll, moves into the quarterfinals against No. 4 Champlain, of Burlington, Vt., which held off St. Catherine (Ky.) 66-65 and ran its record to 31-0. Game time tonight is 5:45 PST.

The Cards cruised Wednesday until the 9-minute mark of the second half.

As expected, NIC ran the floor as if it were double-parked outside the arena, coaxing the taller Cavaliers (25-9) into an uncomfortable 94-foot sprint. As a testament to the quality of this 16-team field, NIC still only led 74-66. Then it relaxed, its dogged defense slacked off and its transition game stalled. Bossier, from Bossier City, La., pounced as stout 6-foot-7 center Oral Roberts’ dunk and swift point guard Kenny Haynes’ six points spurred a 12-0 run with 5:50 remaining.

“It looked like we were ready to fold,” said Watson, who blistered his players during a timeout.

Bossier didn’t trail again in regulation and NIC made just 1 of its last 7 foul shots.

NIC trailed by four at the 6- and 3-minute marks. But the Cards reasserted their pressure defense and Andre McKanstry came up with two critical steals and layups, the latter tying the game at 89 and making up for Myles’ errant pass on the prior possession.

After an exchange of turnovers, McKanstry hounded Haynes into a traveling call. Myles was off line on a 23-footer as the buzzer sounded.

The tension continued in overtime. Chris Harrison’s 3-pointer gave NIC a 94-91 edge, but Roberts scored the final four points of his game-high 25 and Bossier led 95-94 with 1:03 to play.

McKanstry’s layup off a Leonard Myles feed returned the lead to NIC, 96-95, and Shawn Myrick’s free throw with 18 seconds bumped the margin to two.

Haynes forced a wild 10-foot shot in the lane and Myrick rebounded. Todd Myles missed two free throws with 2 seconds left, but Bossier was unable to attempt a desperation shot.

“We’ve been down before and we always come back,” said McKanstry, who shared team-high scoring honors with Myrick (19 points). “We just played great defense and tried to run.”

Case in point was a stunning 40-second span in the first half. Bossier’s Michael Smith scored on a tip-in, but NIC beat the Cavaliers down court and McKanstry had a layup 6 seconds later.

The Cavaliers then committed a turnover which led to Todd Myles’ layup. After Roberts missed inside, NIC flooded the fastbreak lanes and Myrick scored. NIC led 51-43 at the break.

“We had the momentum, but we made ball-handling mistakes we normally don’t make,” Cavaliers coach Mike McConathy said. “We kind of lost it as a group. We were looking for Kenny to do it by himself, and Oral to do it.”

Much of the time, they did do it. Haynes, virtually uncontainable until the closing minutes, scored 24 points to surpass his average by 15. Smith, who had a pair of spectacular dunks, managed only 14. Smith and Roberts missed big chunks of playing time with foul trouble.

Harrison had 17 points and eight boards, battling Roberts on semi-even terms before fouling out late in overtime. NIC’s Steve Ryan came off the bench to score six points and Cameron Banks (nine points), Leonard Myles (six assists) and Bo Johnson (four points) provided quality minutes.

NIC 97, Bossier Parish 95 (OT)

BOSSIER PARISH (25-9) - Roberts 10-17 4-6 25, Haynes 5-8 13-14 24, Smith 6- 8 0-0 14, Greene 5-10 2-2 15, Wheeler 2-5 0-0 4, Palmer 2-7 0-0 5, Hinds 2-2 0-3 4, Eason 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 34-61 19-25 95.

NORTH IDAHO (29-4) - Harrison 6-11 3-6 17, Myrick 5-16 8-11 19, McKanstry 9-15 1-4 19, T. Myles 6-9 2-6 15, Banks 3-7 2-2 9, Ryan 3-3 0-0 6, Johnson 1-1 2-4 4, L. Myles 2-5 0-0 4, Houston 1-2 0-0 2, Webster 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-70 18-33 97.

Half - NIC 51, Bossier 43. 3-point goals - Bossier 8-15 (Smith 2-3, Greene 2-3, Haynes 1-1, Wheeler 1-2, Palmer 1-3, Roberts 1-3), NIC 5-17 (Harrison 2-3, Myrick 1-8, T. Myles 1-2, Banks 1-2, McKanstry 0-2). Total fouls - Bossier 21, NIC 24. Fouled out - Harrison. Technical fouls - none. Rebounds - Bossier 36 (Roberts 11), NIC 45 (Harrison 8). Assists - Bossier 16 (Haynes 7), NIC 15 (L. Myles 6). Att. - 2,500 (est.).

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo