Box Score TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (March 4, 2017) – Looking to win its first conference tournament since 1954, the top-seeded Snow College men's basketball team came up short on Saturday, falling to Southern Idaho in the Region 18 Championship Tournament, 92-82. Tonight's game marked the fifth time the two teams have played this season. Snow had defeated CSI in each of the four previous games. Blake Truman and Zach Hunsaker both earned All-Tournament honors. The Badgers finished the 2016-17 campaign with an impressive 26-6 record.

"It's a difficult thing to do," Snow College head coach Rob Nielson said. "Beating a team of CSI's caliber once or twice during the season would be an accomplishment in and of itself, but to do it five times, that's a challenge. They are a good team and outplayed us down the stretch. I'm really proud of this group of guys. It has been a great season. It has been a lot of fun to coach this group -- it's a special group of kids and I couldn't be more proud of everything they accomplished this season."
 
After Southern Idaho took a 10-point lead at the 5:55 mark in the first half, Snow sophomore Nate Aland scored back-to-back layups to cut the CSI lead to six points. Nate Hunsaker then nailed a pull-up jumper in the lane with 4:22 left to cut the Golden Eagles' lead to just four points. The two teams traded buckets through remainder of the half; however, CSI connected on a couple critical shots down the stretch to take a seven-point lead at the half, 36-29. Aland, along with AJ Jones led the Badgers with six first-half points. Hunsaker, who averages over 20 points per game, was held to just five points in the first half.
 
In the second half, the Badgers tied the game with 16:44 left in the second half on Riley Panter's left-handed layup. Snow College went on to post a 10-point lead behind Panter's back-to-back three-pointers. Jones held the lead at 10 with a three-pointer of his own with 12:23 left in the game. CSI started its comeback when Danya Kingsby took over for the Eagles, scoring 11 points over a five minute stretch. Kingsby's three-pointer with 5:48 left in the game tied the score and the Golden Eagles never looked back. The Badgers had a chance late in the game, missing back-to-back three-point attempts that would have cut the lead to one with under a minute left.
 
Jones led the Badgers with 17 points, followed by Panter with 17. Hunsaker was held to just 15 points on the night.