The Snow College men's basketball team collected two more victories against Salt Lake Community College and Colorado Northwestern Community College over the weekend.
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The Badgers opened the trip with a 103-76 victory over SLCC Thursday night in Taylorsville, before closing the swing with a 109-60 win against CNCC Saturday afternoon in Rangely, Colorado. With the wins, Snow College improved to 24-1 overall and 9-1 in conference play.
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The Badgers entered two-game road swing off the heels of an 83-77 victory against No. 4 College of Southern Idaho. With two victories against SLCC and CNCC, the Badgers would tie the Golden Eagles atop the Scenic West Athletic Conference standings.
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Snow College set the tone early against the Bruins as four straight layups gave the Badgers an 8-3 lead just over three minutes into action.
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A 10-3 Snow College run began to separate the teams.
Sam Sivulich converted two layups in the paint, and
Sean Felts added a jumper to push the lead to 14-6 with 14:37 remaining. Moments later,
Bron Roberts provided an energy boost off the bench with a dunk at the 12:27 mark, igniting an 11-2 surge that stretched the advantage to 22-11.
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Snow College continued to control the pace, extending the lead to 27-13 following a 3-pointer from Roberts. Despite a brief SLCC response, the Badgers closed the half strong as
Max Toombs drilled a 3-pointer to give the Badgers a 49-37 advantage heading into the break.
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The Badgers wasted little time pulling away in the second half.
Kyle Lemke scored inside, and Adams buried back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 10-0 run that pushed the margin to 57-39. Less than a minute later,
Brock McClure finished a fast-break layup giving the Badgers a 20-point edge.
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Felts gave the Badgers a 31-point advantage – their largest lead of the game – with a dunk with just under five minutes to play. The Badgers cruised to the 103-76 victory behind 55 percent shooting and a 61-25 rebounding advantage.
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Seven Badgers scored in double figures led by Adams, who scored 15 points. McClure scored 13 points while grabbing a career-high 19 rebounds. It's the most rebounds a Badger has recorded in a game in more than a decade.
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Sivulich and Felts also had 13 points while
Aaron Bliss and Roberts each had 11. Toombs added 10 points to aid in the victory.
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Snow College carried that momentum into Saturday's matchup against CNCC and delivered one of its most complete performances of the season.
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The Badgers struck first when Toombs drained a 3-pointer just 14 seconds into the game. After Colorado Northwestern briefly tied the score, Snow College answered with back-to-back triples from
Keagan Caton to seize early control.
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A pivotal run midway through the first half broke the game open. With the score tied at 29, Snow College went on a 15-5 surge fueled by inside scoring and perimeter shooting. McClure scored seven points during the run, including a 3-pointer at the 3:04 mark and a steal-and-score at 2:42 that pushed the lead to 49-34.
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Snow College closed the half in emphatic fashion. McClure hit two late 3-pointers,
Sam Sivulich added a triple with 24 seconds remaining, and
James Rust capped the half with a buzzer-beating layup to give the Badgers a commanding 60-36 lead at the break.
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The second half followed the same script. Felts scored on a putback to open the half, then added a 3-pointer at the 15:34 mark to push the lead to 71-43. Snow College rattled off an extended 18-2 run during the middle portion of the half, highlighted by a Rust 3-pointer and a McClure jumper that stretched the margin beyond 30 points.
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The Badgers never let up defensively, holding the Spartans to just 24 second-half points. Snow College built the lead to as many as 49 points in the closing minutes and secured the 109-60 victory.
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McClure led Snow College as he poured in 26 points on 10-16 shooting. Felts came one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 18 points and nine boards. Toombs added 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Bliss chipped in 10 points in the win.
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The No. 1 Badgers will now return home for their final road games of the season. They'll start a 3-game home stand against Utah State University Eastern Thursday at 7:00 p.m. inside the Horne Activity Center. For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.
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