Cardinal men defend, but struggle to score in loss

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — North Idaho College shot 20 of 67 from the field, including 6 of 21 from the 3-point line in an 81-62 Scenic West Athletic Conference loss to the Salt Lake Community College Bruins at Bruin Arena on Thursday. 

"We played pretty well, but just can't seem to put the ball in the basket right now," NIC coach Corey Symons said. "We probably missed 16 from inside the charge circle, and just had a tough time scoring. I was pretty happy with our defense and we're doing the right things. We just need to play more team-oriented basketball, and that starts with me. We just need to get back to the white board and fix some things." 

Aly Toure, a freshman from Mali, had 12 points 14 rebounds for NIC (10-7, 0-2 SWAC). 

Makuei Riek, a redshirt sophomore transfer from Fairfield University, had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Salt Lake (8-9, 1-2). 

Grant Roth, a redshirt freshman from Lakeland High, had two points in two minutes for Salt Lake. 

NIC faces Colorado Northwestern in Rangely, Colo., on Saturday. Colorado Northwestern lost 96-50 to College of Southern Idaho in other conference play on Thursday. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Ne'quan Brown 3-8 0-0 7, Nyale Robinson 0-4 0-0 0, Austin Ouko 5-15 0-2 12, Gage Ontiveros 2-4 0-0 4, Justus Haseley 2-9 2-4 7, Vander Brown 1-1 0-0 3, Ace Arnold 0-2 2-2 2, Ajayi Simmons 3-13 3-4 10, Cody Wright 0-0 1-2 1, Cason Miller 0-3 2-2 2, Sawyr Hansen 0-0 0-2 0, Aly Toure 4-8 4-7 12, Jacori Ervin 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 20-67 16-27 62. 

SALT LAKE 

Makuei Riek 5-13 7-8 18, Danny Young Jr. 6-14 0-0 15, Nick Jefferson 5-11 0-0 10, Lantz Stephenson 3-7 1-3 8, Braden Heaton 1-1 2-2 4, Nick Clark 0-2 0-0 0, Daye Kaba 5-8 2-2 14, Jaxon Heiden 2-3 0-0 4, Connor Nielsen 0-0 1-2 1, Grant Roth 0-1 0-0 0, Duncan Reid 1-4 0-0 3, Reggie Larsen 2-4 0-2 4. Totals 30-68 13-19 81. 

Halftime — SLCC 35-25. 3-point goals — NIC 6-21 (N. Brown 1-1, Robinson 0-2, Ouko 2-10, Haseley 1-2, V. Brown 1-1, Arnold 0-1, Simmons 1-3, Miller 0-1), SLCC 8-27 (Riek 1-4, Young Jr. 3-6, Jefferson 0-2, Stephenson 1-4, Clark 0-2, Kaba 2-2, Heiden 0-1, Roth 0-1, Reid 1-4, Larsen 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 58 (Toure 14), SLCC 37 (Riek 11). Assists — NIC 12 (Haseley 5), SLCC 15 (Jefferson 5). Team fouls — NIC 16, SLCC 25. Fouled out — Kaba, Heiden. Technical fouls — N. Brown, V. Brown, NIC team, Young Jr. 

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