TVcc’S Burney Beats Nic With 40 Cardinals Men Keep It Close But Fall To 1-6 In Swac Games

Treasure Valley’s Brandon Burney leads the Scenic West Athletic Conference in scoring, averaging 26 points per game.

North Idaho College probably wishes that was all the damage he created Saturday night in Christianson Gymnasium as the Chukars edged the Cardinals 94-90 in men’s basketball.

TVCC sent NIC to its fourth straight conference loss as the Cardinals dropped to 6-9 overall, 1-6 in league.

Burney shot at, around and over the Cardinals defense, scoring a game-high 40 points on 14-of-24 shooting, including 6 of 7 from 3-point range.

“That’s four games he’s scored in the 40s,” NIC coach Hugh Watson said. “They back-doored us, they got layups on us. It was just a mental lapse on defense. A couple of times we didn’t even guard.”

Burney’s resume included numerous back-door layins, perhaps the most costly to NIC.

“Our team is effective at it,” Treasure Valley’s first-year coach Jason Ficca said as his team improved to 11-8, 4-3. “He made tough cuts and the others gave him tough passes.”

The Chukars’ biggest lead of the night came with 6 minutes remaining on a back-door layin by Burney on a feed from 6-foot-9 forward Robbie Gerichs that put TVCC’s lead at 79-63. Gerichs and Burney connected all night.

NIC hammered back in the final 4 minutes witha 22-11 run that included six 3-pointers. Point guard Jerry Petty hit four of them and finished with 14 points and 13 assists.

“Oh my gosh,” Ficca said. “They made some shots. They played perfect down the stretch. They played it just how you do it.”

The Cardinals used smart fouls to stop the Chukars from converting on any shots in the final 2 minutes. TVCC went to the line nine times, making 10 of 18. That allowed NIC to close within 93-90.

After trailing by 10 at one point in the first half, the Chukars used a 10-2 run, including two of Burney’s 3s to gain the lead for good and lead 41-37 at halftime.

NIC struggled at the foul line, converting just 13 of 25.

Treasure Valley 94, North Idaho 90

Treasure Valley - Richardson 2-10 6-10 10, Burney 14-24 6-9 40, Cordova 1-3 2-2 4, Simmons 4-7 1-4 9, Terry 2-4 1-2 5, Kelsey 0-0 0-0 0, Reynolds 5-9 2-4 13, Webb 2-4 0-0 6, Earl 0-0 0-0 0, Gerrichs 2-5 3-3 7. Totals 32-66 21-34 94.

North Idaho - Zimmerman 3-5 2-2 11, Cheeley 0-1 0-0 0, Hines , Goodman 6-19 0-1 15, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Franklin 5-8 1-2 15, Battee 4-5 0-0 8, Hansen 1-2 0-0 2, Petty 4-9 3-6 14, Fisher 4-8 3-4 11, Keep 5-10 4-10 14, Booms 0-2 0-0 0. Totals .

Halftime - Treasure Valley 41, North Idaho 37. 3-point goals - Treasure Valley 9-13 (Burney 6-7, Webb 2-3, Reynolds 1-1, Richardson 0-1, Cordova 0-1), North Idaho 13-26 (Franklin 4-5, Zimmerman 3-4, Petty 3-4, Goodman 3-11, Battee 0-1, Brown 0-1). Fouled out - Terry. Rebounds - Treasure Valley 36 (Simmons 7, Gerrichs 7), North Idaho 38 (Goodman 10). Assists - Treasure Valley 15 (Cordova 5), North Idaho 20 (Petty 13). Total fouls - Treasure Valley 19, North Idaho 26. Technicals - None.