Cardinal men fall to No. 23 Utah State-Eastern

COEUR d'ALENE — North Idaho College freshman Ace Arnold converted on three free throws with 54 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 69-66 with 54 seconds remaining, but the No. 23 Utah State-Eastern Eagles pulled away in the final seconds and won at NIC for the first time in 18 years, 76-71 in Scenic West Athletic Conference play at Rolly Williams Court on Thursday. 

NIC coach Corey Symons was called for a technical foul after arguing a goaltending call with 29 seconds remaining, and Utah State-Eastern's Adam Grissom hit the two technical free throws to extend the lead to 73-66. NIC missed a pair of 3-point attempts in the final 20 seconds. 

"Our guys played hard and really well," said Symons, who received two technical fouls in the game and will serve a one-game suspension for Saturday's game against visiting Snow. "It was tough to get into a rhythm tonight. I was sticking up for my guys and couldn't let them go out like that." 

Aly Toure, a freshman from Mali, had 20 points and 15 rebounds for NIC, which led 37-27 at halftime. Nyale Robinson, a freshman from Seattle, had 13 points for the Cardinals (11-8, 1-3 SWAC). 

NIC hosts top-ranked Snow (18-1, 3-1) of Ephraim, Utah, on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Badgers fell to Southern Idaho (18-1, 4-0) 84-76 in Twin Falls in other SWAC play on Thursday. 

Isaac Castagnetto scored 24 points for Utah State-Eastern (16-3, 3-1), which won at NIC for the first time since Jan. 10, 2008 (89-72). 

"They're good and a Top 20 team in the country," said Symons, who was an assistant coach under Jared Phay that season. "They run a matchup zone and they're active on the defensive end. We've just got to do better and make our free throws." 

UTAH STATE-EASTERN 

Seven Bahati 2-4 5-8 10, Kayin Turner 2-5 4-4 10, Ike Palmer 3-11 7-8 13, Ethen Stoddard 2-4 0-2 4, Isaac Castagnetto 8-16 5-8 24, Adam Grissom 2-5 4-4 10, Weston Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Easton Duft 0-0 0-0 0, Liam Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Robbie Yates 0-4 0-0 0, Bowen Davies 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-54 25-34 74. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Ne'quan Brown 1-6 0-2 3, Nyale Robinson 4-6 3-6 13, Austin Ouko 3-6 2-4 11, Gage Ontiveros 3-6 2-5 8, Aly Toure 7-12 6-10 20, Ace Arnold 3-10 3-3 11, Cody Wright 0-2 0-0 0, Cason Miller 0-2 2-2 2, Sawyr Hansen 1-1 1-2 3, Justus Haseley 0-2 0-1 0, Jacori Ervin 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 22-54 19-37 71. 

Halftime — NIC 37-27. 3-point goals — USUE 9-21 (Bahati 1-1, Turner 2-4, Palmer 0-2, Castagnetto 4-6, Grissom 2-4, Johnson 0-1, Yates 0-3), NIC 8-27 (N. Brown 1-6, Robinson 2-4, Ouko 3-6, Arnold 2-8, Wright 0-1, Miller 0-1, Haseley 0-1). Rebounds — USUE 21 (Palmer, Castagnetto 5), NIC 44 (Toure 15). Assists — USUE 7 (Castagnetto 2), NIC 7 (Robinson, Toure 2). Team fouls — USUE 29, NIC 22. Fouled out — Brown. Technical fouls — Bahati, Robinson, Toure, NIC team 2. 

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