EPHRAIM—The Snow College men's team dropped a heartbreaker to No. 13 ranked North Idaho on Saturday, 84-77 in overtime. The Badgers led by seven with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, but an 8-1 run by the Cardinals sent the game to an extra period.

     Snow had a couple chances to win in regulation, but could not put the game away. After the Cardinals closed the gap to 63-61 with 19 seconds remaining on a layup by Michael Middlebrooks, Snow point guard #Nick Gruninger# brought the ball up court as the Cardinals tried to foul to stop the clock.

     With defenders hounding him on both sides, Gruninger went flying face first to the floor, injuring his shoulder as he fell on the ball. He was called for traveling, giving the ball to North Idaho with 12 seconds left.

      “That was a big turning point,” head coach Rob Nielson said afterward. “We had the lead and the ball, and then Nick tripped or fell or something and we got nothing out of it.”

     Things looked up again for Snow, however, as the Cardinals' Kaj Sherman missed a shot from just outside the key. The Badgers' #Connor Van Brocklin# grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled with seven seconds on the clock.

     Van Brocklin, 7-7 from the line at the time, made the first free throw to put Snow up by three, but missed the second to give the Cardinals one more slim chance. They made the most of it with Jalil Abdul-Bassit nailing a three from the top of the key to send the game to overtime tied at 64.

     In the extra period Snow could not get going offensively as the injured Gruninger sat on the bench and the Badgers missed their first six free throws. The Cardinals went on a 12-0 run to put the game out of reach. Snow could manage only 2-for-10 from the line in the overtime period.

     Van Brocklin finished with a season-high 35 points, twice his team-leading average, including seven 3-pointers. Sane had nine points and led both teams with 11 rebounds. Abdul-Bassit led the Cardinals with 17 points.

     Snow College is now 1-2 in the Scenic West Athletic Conference and 13-4 overall. The Badgers have been ranked nationally at No. 20, but are sure to drop after losing three of their last four. North Idaho improves to 3-1 and 16-3, including a 75-74 loss at Salt Lake Community on Thursday. Snow will be on the road this week playing in Rangely, Colo., and taking on CEU in Price. The Badgers' next home game will be on Saturday, Jan. 19 when they host the league-leading Bruins of Salt Lake.