Nic Eliminated

Eighth-seeded North Idaho College gave No. 1 seed Snow a good run, but came up short as Snow prevailed 70-64 in a first-round game of the men’s NJCAA Region 18 basketball tournament at Ephraim, Utah.

After falling behind by 15 points in the second half, the Cards made a run and drew within seven points at 59-52. Twice, NIC had possession with the score 59-52, twice got good shots but twice missed.

“We just never could get over the hump,” NIC assistant coach Mark White said. “We played hard, there’s no doubt about it. But it’s pretty tough playing against the No. 1 seed on their floor.”

In other games, No. 3 Southern Idaho defeated No. 6 Utah Valley 82-67, No. 4 Dixie edged No. 5 Ricks 87-83 and No. 7 Eastern Utah upset No. 2 Salt Lake 96-84.

Snow 70, North Idaho 64

North Idaho-Hunter 0-5 5-9 5, Franklin 1-3 0-0 3, Ware 9-21 1-1 21, Boyd 3-4 1-1 8, Petty 8-12 0-0 17, Johnson 3-7 0-0 6, Hansen 0-0 0-0 0, O’Dowd 1-5 2-2 4. Totals 25-57 9-13 64.

Snow-Bradshaw 8-12 4-5 21, Smith 1-3 0-1 3, Moore 0-2 0-0 0, Packer 1-3 2-2 5, Magnusson 0-1 0-0 0, Kindred 1-2 0-0 2, Kaufsi 5-9 2-2 12, Sargent 1-6 3-4 5, Tullis 5-9 2-2 12, Hunsaker 5-6 0-1 10. Totals 27-53 13-17 70.

Halftime-Snow 38, North Idaho 27. 3-point goals-North Idaho 5-24 (Hunter 0-2, Franklin 1-3, Ware 2-9, Boyd 1-2, Petty 1-4, Johnson 0-4), Snow 3-6 (Bradshaw 1-1, Smith 1-3, Moore 0-1, Packer 1-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-North Idaho 25 (Hunter 7), Snow 40 (Tullis 8). Assists-North Idaho 7 (Hunter 2), Snow 16 (Bradshaw 5). Total fouls-North Idaho 21, Snow 19. A-2,000.