Cardinals defy most statistics while sinking Salt Lake

Glance at the statistics and logic suggests that North Idaho College shouldn’t have won a men’s basketball game by shooting 37 percent, 22.2 percent from beyond the 3-point line and losing the rebounding battle by 16 against a quality opponent.

Then add in the fact that NIC’s top two scorers, Darin Nagle and Frank Clair, had off nights.

But there is no column on the stat sheet for number of floor burns, timely free throws by a 33.3 percent foul shooter and just plain dogged determination. Those were some of the essential ingredients in NIC’s 67-60 victory over Salt Lake Thursday at Christianson Gym.

“This is a game I want to be able to win, when we shot 4 of 18 from the 3-point line and we were still able to gut it out,” Cardinals coach Jared Phay said. “Obviously, it wasn’t our best night, but to Salt Lake’s credit they really got after us defensively and made things tough on us.”

The 13th-ranked Cardinals (12-0, 2-0 Scenic West Athletic Conference) did the same to the Bruins (8-2, 1-1). Salt Lake shot only 41.8 percent and had 19 turnovers compared to NIC’s 10. The Bruins’ top scoring threat, forward Viktor Dubovitiskiy, spent most of the game in foul trouble and finished with just eight points.

Dubovitiskiy had company as Salt Lake’s backup point guard Paul Wayne fouled out and the Bruins were called for 23 fouls. NIC cashed in by making 23 of 27 free throws, including a pair by center Tommy Craddock with 1:30 remaining that gave NIC the lead for good at 61-60. Craddock, who has been bothered by a groin injury, came into the game 3 of 9 at the line on the season.

“He’s pretty tough mentally,” Phay said of Craddock.

The Cardinals made 15 of their last 16 free throws, much to the distaste of veteran Bruins coach Norm Parrish.

“I thought down the stretch it was a little bit not the way I’d prefer it, but we still had chances,” said Parrish, whose team was 11 of 14 at the foul line. “We just have to get tougher. I’ve said all along we’re young, and to be honest they don’t believe me when I say this is what the road is like” in the SWAC.

NIC, after numerous easy non-conference wins, is probably getting a feel for the balance in the conference after two SWAC home wins. The Cardinals visit Southern Idaho (9-2, 2-0) on Saturday in a battle for first place.

“I thought we played really hard for 35 minutes,” Phay said. “We have to put 40 together if we want to win this conference.”

The 5 minutes that were missing for NIC came at the end of the first half. The Cardinals built a 28-16 lead before missing 12 consecutive shots, many from long distance. That drought enabled Salt Lake to go into halftime trailing just 32-29.

The Bruins darted in front early in the second half, 38-33, when Phay called a timeout. He lit into his players, telling them they were being outworked by the Bruins. NIC responded by holding Salt Lake without a field goal for more than 6 minutes.

Nagle and Clair combined for just 18 points, 13 less than their combined season averages. Mac Hopson (14 points) and Bayo Arigbon (13) helped pick up the slack.