Central Wyoming’s Daryle Morgan, Jr. sank a 3-pointer as time expired to send the game into overtime, but the North Idaho College men’s basketball team responded in the overtime period and beat the Rustlers 82-75 Friday at Christianson Gymnasium.
“We always talk about heart as a team and I think today we really came together,” NIC freshman forward Braxton Tucker said.
Five NIC players scored in double figures, including Tucker, who scored 20 points on nine of 16 shooting from the field and pulled down seven rebounds.
“They had all the momentum going into overtime,” NIC head coach Jared Phay said. “A lot of times that’s the team that wins the game because they have all the momentum and the fire, so I was really happy with how we responded in overtime.”
NIC’s Brad Wallace hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 2:20 left in the second half to extend the Cardinals’ lead to 66-60.
Central Wyoming’s Bryce Canda made a 3-pointer of his own with about 1:40 left to make the score 66-63 and Isaiah Tademy cut the NIC lead to one with 38 seconds left after he drove to the basket and scored.
Will Dorsey hit two free throws for the Cardinals with 9.5 seconds left in regulation to give NIC a 68-65 lead.
Rustlers head coach Pat Rafferty called a timeout with 4.6 seconds left. Central Wyoming inbounded the ball near the NIC student section and Morgan tied the game at 68 to force overtime.
The Cardinals started on a 6-0 run in the overtime period and led 74-68 with 3:29 left. Central Wyoming answered right back with a 3-pointer by Tademy to make it 74-71. Tademy cut the lead to one after a layup with 1:25 remaining. He was sent to the free-throw line on the play with a chance to make it a 3-point play and tie the game but he missed the free throw.
“I think we just kept our composure and made free throws down the stretch,” Phay said.
NIC’s Bryce Leavitt made eight free throws in the last 52 seconds to seal the game for the Cardinals.
NIC lead for the majority of the game, but Central Wyoming grabbed an early 5-0 lead. NIC then took an 8-7 lead.
Sophomore forward Nathan Rathbun hit a long two from the top of the key to put the Cardinals up 16-11 and Wallace hit a three from the corner with about 4:05 left in the first half to extend NIC’s lead to 34-26. He hit a three from the opposite corner moments earlier to cushion the Cardinals’ lead.
NIC headed into the locker room with a 38-30 halftime lead.
Canda hit a jump shot to cut NIC’s lead down to 44-39 about five minutes into the second half.
With about 14 minutes left, NIC freshman guard Cole Kesler found fellow freshman guard Jordon King in transition. King caught the ball on the wing, drove to the basket and dunked it, causing the student section to go wild. King’s dunk made the score 49-41. Moments later, Tucker hit a 3-pointer to make it 52-42.
Tademy found good positioning under the hoop and converted on a point-blank shot with about 3:10 left in the game to cut NIC’s lead to 61-60.
Tucker scored from the baseline with just over three minutes left to make it 63-60 Cardinals.
“He (Tucker) scores in a variety of ways,” Phay said. “He’s a guy we need to get the ball to a lot, but he also just makes things happen.”
NIC (3-0) will host Arizona Western College tomorrow at 5. Salish Kootenai College will play Central Wyoming tomorrow at 3 at Christianson Gymnasium also.
