Cards fall to Utah State Eastern

Utah State-Eastern 70 

North Idaho 63 

PRICE, Utah — Freshman Ace Arnold made a pair of free throws with 11:02 remaining to give the Cardinals a 52-44 lead, but the Eagles went on a 22-3 run late in the second half to capture the Scenic West Athletic Conference win. 

Ethen Stoddard, who finished with a game-high 16 points, gave Utah State-Eastern the lead on a basket with 7:11 remaining. NIC did not covert a field goal until a basket by Ne'quan Brown with 2:55 remaining cut the deficit to 66-57. 

NIC (13-11, 3-6 SWAC) trails Salt Lake (10-12, 3-5) by a half game for the fourth and final playoff spot in the conference. Salt Lake was idle on Saturday. 

Utah State-Eastern (17-6, 4-4) is third in the conference. 

Brown and freshman Austin Ouko scored 12 points each for NIC, which travels to College of Southern Idaho next Saturday. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Austin Ouko 3-12 4-5 12, Aly Toure 2-3 3-5 7, Nyale Robinson 2-4 0-0 5, Ne'quan Brown 2-10 8-13 12, Cody Wright 1-2 0-0 2, Ace Arnold 2-4 2-2 8, Ajayi Simmons 1-6 5-7 7, Cason Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Gage Ontiveros 2-2 0-0 4, Justus Haseley 1-2 2-3 4, Jacori Ervin 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 17-47 24-35 63. 

UTAH STATE-EASTERN 

Isaac Castagnetto 3-8 8-8 15, Ike Palmer 2-12 3-3 7, Ethen Stoddard 7-11 2-5 16, Liam Davis 3-5 2-3 9, Robbie Yates 2-5 0-0 4, Seven Bahati 2-5 3-4 7, Kayin Turner 1-2 0-1 2, Adam Grissom 2-5 0-0 5, Easton Duft 0-1 1-2 1, Bowen Davies 1-3 2-8 4. 

Halftime — NIC 32-30. 3-point goals — NIC 5-20 (Ouko 2-10, Robinson 1-1, N. Brown 0-3, Wright 0-1, Arnold 2-4, Simmons 0-1), USUE 3-15 (Castagnetto 1-2, Palmer 0-3, Davis 1-2, Yates 0-3, Bahati 0-1, Turner 0-1, Grissom 1-2, Duft 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 36 (N. Brown, Simmons 7), USUE 29 (Castagnetto 7). Assists — NIC 9 (N. Brown 4), USUE 12 (Palmer 3). Team fouls — NIC 24, USUE 27. Fouled out — Turner. 

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