Toure nearly perfect for Cardinal men

COEUR d'ALENE — Since moving into the starting lineup, North Idaho College freshman Aly Toure has made the most of his chances. 

On Saturday, he had plenty of those too. 

Toure, a 6-foot-9 forward from Mali, had 20 points on 9 of 10 shooting and eight rebounds, just missing his third double-double in his last four games, as the Cardinals beat Colorado Northwestern 102-80 in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game at Rolly Williams Court on Saturday. 

"He's finally getting some confidence," NIC coach Corey Symons said. "He's finally figuring out how to use his body at this level. He's a really good player, but didn't get a lot of in-game experience because he was behind another really good big at Wasatch Academy. Now that he understands it, he's been killing it in league. He's strong and rebounds the ball really well. Once he gets the ball into his hands, you're not taking it out of his hands." 

Sophomore Ne'quan Brown had 19 points and eight rebounds for NIC (13-9, 3-4 SWAC), which sits in fourth place in league. 

Jamison Thomson scored 21 points for Colorado Northwestern (4-18, 0-7). 

NIC travels to face third-ranked Snow College on Thursday in Ephraim, Utah. 

COLORADO NORTHWESTERN 

Gibson Walton 4-6 0-0 10, Jaden Fitzhugh 4-6 0-0 12, Jordan Jones 3-11 0-0 7, Trey Johnson 4-12 4-4 15, Lincoln Johnson 0-4 0-0 0, Brandon Avance 2-3 2-2 7, Finn Powelson 2-4 4-4 8, Jamison Thomson 9-14 0-0 21. Totals 28-60 10-10 80. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Austin Ouko 5-9 2-2 15, Aly Toure 9-10 2-2 20, Nyale Robinson 0-1 0-0 0, Ne'quan Brown 7-15 2-2 19, Cody Wright 0-4 2-2 2, Vander Brown 1-2 0-0 3, Ace Arnold 4-6 2-2 13, Ajayi Simmons 5-9 0-0 11, Cason Miller 0-2 0-0 0, Sawyr Hansen 1-3 1-3 3, Gage Ontiveros 1-2 0-0 2, Justus Haseley 2-5 3-3 7, Jacori Ervin 3-5 1-3 7. Totals 38-73 15-18 102. 

Halftime — NIC 50-35. 3-point goals — CNCC 14-31 (Walton 2-4, Fitzhugh 4-4, Jones 1-5, T. Johnson 3-8, L. Johnson 0-4, Avance 1-2, Powelson 0-1, Thomson 3-3), NIC 11-26 (Ouko 3-6, Robinson 0-1, N. Brown 3-5, V. Brown 1-2, Arnold 3-4, Simmons 1-4, Haseley 0-2). Rebounds — CNCC 21 (Thomson 5), NIC 42 (Toure, N. Brown 8). Assists — CNCC 14 (Jones 5), NIC 22 (N. Brown 6). Team fouls — CNCC 18, NIC 11. Fouled out — Walton, Thomson. 

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