The Snow College men's basketball team began the new year right where it left off, with a win. The Badgers defeated Colorado Northwest Community College 96-65 Saturday in Ephraim to begin Scenic West Athletic Conference play.
 
The Badgers finished non-conference play with an undefeated 15-0 record – a program first. Most recently, they earned a pair of victories at the Las Vegas Tarkanian Classic to conclude their non-conference slate.
 
Snow College started slowly out of the gate against the Spartans. Alternatively, CNCC came out red hot. Over the first seven and a half minutes of action, the Spartans went 7-10 from the field and 4-5 from beyond the arc to take an 18-12 lead.
 
The Badgers quickly turned the tide. After starting 5-13 from the field, Snow College used a quick 7-0 burst to take a 19-18 lead. Another 3-point field goal midway through the first half gave the Spartans their final lead of the game.
 
Over the final 10 minutes of the opening period, Snow College outscored the Spartans 26-17. CNCC kept the game close with its hot shooting from deep. In total, the Spartans shot 59 percent (10-17) from distance in the first half. The Badgers took a 45-38 lead into the halftime break.
 
The Badgers increased the defensive pressure, which led to the Spartans cooling off significantly in the second half.  Snow College scored 14 of the first 20 points to begin the second stanza to take a 59-44 lead.
 
After shooting over 50 percent from the field in the first half, Snow College's defense limited CNCC to shoot just 5-15 from the field and 0-5 from deep over the first 10 minutes of the second period.
 
The Badgers used a 16-4 run, which was capped off by a pair of emphatic dunks by Bron Roberts and a layup from James Rust, to take an 88-62 lead with under three minutes to play.  Snow College added the exclamation point on the win as Roberts and Rust sank back-to-back 3-pointers to earn the 96-65 victory.
 
Brock McClure led all scorers with an 18-point, 15-rebound double-double – his eighth of the season. Sam Sivulich scored 15 points and dished five assists on 5-10 shooting and 4-8 from deep. Roberts had 12 points and five rebounds, while McCaden Adams added 11 points and six assists. Sean Felts finished with 10 points and five boards to aid in the victory.
 
With the win, Snow College improves to 16-0 and 1-0 within the SWAC and will host Salt Lake Community College Saturday at 7:00 p.m. inside the Horne Activity Center. For video streaming and live stats information, visit snowbadgers.com.