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NIC men’s basketball battles to beat Salt Lake

Men's Basketball

NIC men’s basketball battles to beat Salt Lake

The North Idaho College men’s basketball team avenged an earlier loss to Salt Lake Community College by beating the Bruins 87-78 Saturday at Rolly Williams Court.

The Bruins led at halftime by two, but the Cardinals regained the lead in the second half in part to redshirt sophomore point guard Mikey Hope’s offensive play.

“Mikey definitely got us going in that second half there,” said NIC head coach Jared Phay.

Hope finished with 17 points in 16 minutes of action, including a perfect six of six from the free throw line.

Keon Lewis also scored in double figures finishing with 21 points on six of nine shooting from the field and eight of eight from the foul line.

Lewis also had the responsibility of guarding Skyler Halford.

“He’s (Halford) the conference leading scorer,” Phay said. “Keon actually did a great job guarding him and holding him to only 13 points.”

NIC’s Jalil Abdul-Bassit led all scorers with 27 points.

The win moved the Cardinals into first place in the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC). The Bruins now trail by a half game.

NIC (21-3 overall, 8-1 SWAC) will return to action against the College of Southern Idaho Saturday at 5.

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