CSI men rally past Cardinals

COEUR d'ALENE — North Idaho College led most of the way, but Idaho signee Ace Reiser hit two fadeaway jumpers in the final two minutes to lift the College of Southern Idaho past the Cardinals, 81-77 in Scenic West Athletic Conference play Saturday at Rolly Williams Court. 

Reiser finished with 26 points for CSI (26-2, 12-1 SWAC), NIC's longtime rival, ranked fourth in the NJCAA. Reiser tied the game at 71 with 1:17 left, then following a Cardinal turnover, put the Golden Eagles ahead to stay at 73-71 with a basket with 48 seconds left. 

"They hit a couple big shots down the stretch," NIC coach Corey Symons said. "It's tough; it's been a battle like this for 60-some years."

Ajayi Simmons scored 20 points, Ne'quan Brown 17 — both off the bench — for NIC (15-13, 5-8), which led by 13 points early in the second half. 

Symons also had praise for Gage Ontiveros, who had 12 points and eight rebounds, and for the defense of Cason Miller, a freshman from Lake City High. 

"Obviously I don't like to lose, but we're going to play these guys in two weeks," Symons said. 

NIC was already locked into the fourth seed for the upcoming Region 18 tournament. 

The Cardinals plays host to top-ranked Snow (27-1, 12-1) on Thursday and third-place Utah State-Eastern (21-7, 8-5) on Saturday to wrap up the regular season. 

CSI plays host to Snow on Saturday for the top seed to regionals, and the right to host. NIC will play the top seed in the first round. 

SOUTHERN IDAHO 

Jalen Lyn 4-10 6-6 14, Ace Reiser 9-14 6-6 26, Ben Thornbrue 2-7 6-8 10, Nathan Ahner 2-7 4-6 8, Guygustone Kasenga 3-4 0-0 6, Cooper Kesler 2-5 2-2 8, Kyah Farris-White 0-0 0-0 0, Kobe Kesler 0-1 0-0 0, Charlie Dimmock 4-7 1-3 9. Totals 26-55 25-31 81. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Nyale Robinson 3-10 0-0 7, Austin Ouko 2-8 4-4 9, Gage Ontiveros 5-7 2-3 12, Justus Haseley 0-2 0-0 0, Aly Toure 4-4 1-1 9, Ne'quan Brown 6-20 2-4 17, Ace Arnold 0-0 0-0 0, Ajayi Simmons 7-11 4-5 20, Cody Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Cason Miller 1-1 0-0 3, Sawyr Hansen 0-0 0-0 0, Jacori Ervin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-63 13-17 77. 

Halftime: NIC 34-32. 3-point goals: CSI 4-16 (Lyn 0-3, Reiser 2-5, Thornbrue 0-1, Ahner 0-3, C. Kesler 2-4), NIC 8-23 (Robinson 1-3, Ouko 1-4, Haseley 0-2, Brown 3-10, Simmons 2-3, Miller 1-1). Rebounds: CSI 28 (Kasenga 7), NIC 36 (Brown 9). Assists: CSI 12 (Ahner 5), NIC 15 (Ouko, Brown 3). Fouled out: Lyn. Total fouls: CSI 18, NIC 21.  

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