NIC MEN INCREASE SWAC LEAD
By Jason Elliott
Snow Loses 57-68

 COEUR d'ALENE -- The North Idaho College men's basketball team picked up a victory Saturday and got some help to open up a two-game lead in the Scenic West Athletic Conference standings.

The eighth-ranked Cardinals went on an 11-0 run midway through the first half on their way to a 68-57 win over the Badgers at Rolly Williams Court, giving the Cardinals a two-game lead over Salt Lake, which lost to Southern Idaho 65-57 on Saturday.

North Idaho's men and women are idle next weekend, then travel to Colorado Northwestern on Feb. 5.

North Idaho guard Michael Hale scored 15 points, shooting 13 of 14 from the free-throw line in the second half to push the Cardinals to a win.

"When you're struggling from the floor you try to get to the line," Hale said. "That's really what I had to do."

Hale was 1 of 5 from the field in the game and had five assists to lead the Cardinals.

"The whole league is really good," Hale said. "You always have to play your 'A' game. From the first guy to the last one on the bench."

North Idaho (20-2, 10-2) held the Badgers to 18 points in the first half and led by as many as 18 in the second before the Badgers made a run to get within nine points with 1:04 remaining.

"I thought our defensive effort was really good," North Idaho coach Jared Phay said. "We gave up too many offensive boards, but the effort to defend was really good. We really focused on defensive effort following the Salt Lake game. Offensively we struggled, but I kept telling them we could win if we guarded."

Renato Portugal had 15 rebounds to lead the Badgers (8-13, 2-9).

SNOW COLLEGE

Jordan Wood 3-13 0-0 7, Mitch Frei 4-8 5-6 13, Reggie Shaw 6-15 1-1 15, Renato Portugal 2-10 2-4 6, Corbin Green 2-6 2-3 7, Danny Boyd 0-2 0-0 0, Melvin Washington 1-1 0-0 2, Vinicius Novaes 1-5 1-4 3, Justin Vorwaller 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 21-65 11-18 57.

NORTH IDAHO

DeAndre Taylor 2-6 4-4 9, Idell Bell 2-3 3-4 7, Steven Hodney 1-1 0-0 2, Renado Parker 5-13 2-3 12, Michael Hale 1-5 0-0 15, Nick Fromm 2-3 2-2 6, Logan Jones 1-5 2-2 4, Taylor Stevens 2-6 0-0 5, Brandon Haas 0-0 1-2 1, Guy-Marc Michel 1-3 1-2 3, Emeka Iweka 1-5 2-2 4. Totals 18-50 30-35 68.

Halftime -- NIC 27-18. 3-point goals -- Snow 4-22 (Wood 1-10, Shaw 2-7, Green 1-5), NIC 2-14 (Taylor 1-3, Bell 0-1, Hale 0-1, Jones 0-4, Stevens 1-5). Rebounds -- Snow 48 (Portugal 15), NIC 32 (Michel 8). Assists -- Snow 7 (Wood 3), NIC 13 (Hale 5). Team fouls -- Snow 24, NIC 20. Fouled out -- Portugal, Green.