Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 EPHRAIM – The Snow College Badgers used a strong second half on Saturday to salvage a split of their games last weekend against the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) and North Idaho College (NIC). Snow was in position on Thursday to hand CSI its first loss of the season, but could not hold on as the third-ranked Eagles came back in the game's last 10 minutes to take the 74-70 win. The Badgers turned the tables on NIC on Saturday, coming back from down eight at the break for a big 72-67 win.
Snow led CSI by five at halftime Thursday night and stretched its lead to 12 five minutes into the second half. The Badgers still led by 10 with 10 minutes remaining, but then CSI's full court press starting forcing turnovers and the Eagles fought their way back. The Eagles forced the Badgers into 25 turnovers in the game while committing only 15 themselves.
Walter Wright had a game-high 25 points to pace the Badgers. He also grabbed seven rebounds and handed out five assists.
Gentrey Thomas added 18 points and five rebounds, and
Marcus Bryce pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for Snow. Tyson Smith led CSI with 13 points while Keonta Vernon and Ar'Mond Davis both scored 12.
North Idaho took an eight-point lead into the break on Saturday against the sluggish Badgers who shot only eight for 29 (28 percent) from the floor in the first half while the Cardinals were 15 for 31 (48 percent). Still down by five midway through the second half, Wright drained back-to-back three's to put Snow ahead 52-51, and the Badgers outscored the Cardinals by 13 in the half to take the 72-67 win.
Wright, who is fourth in the nation at 24.0 points per game, was a scoring machine in the second half for the Badgers, scoring 29 of his game-high 34 points on nine for 15 shooting from the floor including four for six from 3-point range. The Badger sophomore finished with five rebounds and handed out six assists while committing only one turnover. Austin Pope scored 20 and had a game-high 10 rebounds for NIC.
Snow is now in third place in the Scenic West Athletic Conference with a record of 3-2 and is 14-6 overall. CSI remains undefeated at 5-0 in conference play and 20-0 overall. Salt Lake is in second place at 4-1 and 16-3 overall. The Badgers will be at home for two more weeks, hosting USU-Eastern this Thursday and Colorado Northwestern on Saturday.
