COMING UP: vs. Northwest Nazarene (United Heritage Insurance Mayors' Cup), Tuesday, 7:05 p.m.; at Clearwater River Casino Invite (Lewiston) – vs. Lewis-Clark State, Friday, 7 p.m. (PT); vs. Montana Tech, Saturday, 4 p.m. (PT)
LAST WEEK: Hosted Taco Bell Shoot-Out – vs. No. 17 Arizona Christian (W 77-70), vs. Walla Walla (W 91-59)
LIVE VIDEO/LIVE STATS: Live Video and Live Stats will be available for all home games this season Live Video will be available at
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/yoteathletics/ (for $7.95 a game or $49.95 for a season pass), while Live Stats are available online at
http://www.sidearmstats.com/cofidaho/mbball/. This weekend in Lewiston, Live Video will be available at
http://new.livestream.com/accounts/8399277/lcwarriors, while Live Stats can be accessed at
http://www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Webcasts.aspx?association=10.
ON TELEVISION TUESDAY: Tuesday's game vs. NNU will be carried live locally on KTVB-TV Channel 7.2 (Idaho's 24/7) and Cable One Channel 28 with Jay Tust and Brian King calling the action.
4-0 START FOR THE YOTES: With four wins to open the 2014-15 season, the Coyotes are off to their best start since the 2006-07 team opened 5-0. Including this year, 11 C of I teams have opened the season 4-0 – with the 1998-99, 2001-02, and 2006-07 teams starting 5-0; the 1991-92 team opening 6-0; with 1958-59 and 1984-85 teams starting 7-0; with the 1995-96 team, which went on to win the NAIA Division II national title, opened 8-0.
HOME SWEET HOME: C of I extended their home win streak to 19 with their two victories over the week, their second-longest home win streak in program history. The Yotes won 56-straight games in their previous venue, O'Connor Fieldhouse from 1983-87 and have a 353-92 home record since the 1981-82 season.
SUCCESS ACROSS THE BOARD: The Yotes opened the home schedule with two big home wins – including a come-from-behind victory over nationally-ranked Arizona Christian. Eight different players scored at least eight points in one of the two games – with
Josh Wilson (Los Angeles, Calif. / El Camino CC),
Joey Nebeker (Melba, Idaho / Boise State U.), and
Demetrius Perkins (Compton, Calif. / Glendale CC) scoring in double-figures both nights. Wilson added 10 rebounds and nine assists in the two games; Nebeker logged 14 rebounds and six assists; with Perkins recording eight rebounds and six assists. The trio also combined for 15 steals in the victories.
STEALS AND ASSISTS PILE UP: C of I played well at both ends of the floor, holding their opponents to 34-percent shooting from the field and combining for 30 steals in the two games. Offensively, the Yotes were unselfish with the basketball, recording 48 assists on 59 made field goals, including 21-of-23 baskets against Arizona Christian.
HISTORY IN THE MAYORS' CUP: Tuesday night, the Coyotes meet for the first of two games in the United Heritage Insurance Mayors' Cup Series. The match-up marks the sixth-straight year that the Canyon County schools will meet in a home-and-home series, with C of I sweeping the games last season. The two teams met seven times at the Idaho Center before the rivalry game was moved to campus sites in 2009, with the Yotes picking up wins in 2000 (73-59), 2001 (99-86), 2005 (78-71), 2006 (88-80), and 2007 (60-54), while NNU notched wins in 2004 (78-75) and 2008 (76-71).
OLDEST BASKETBALL RIVLARY IN IDAHO: The recorded history of The C of I-NNU series began in 1933, with C of I knocking off Northwest Nazarene, 23-16. Statistically, the two teams have met 194 times in men's basketball, with the Coyotes holding a 113-76 advantage (not including a 1-4 mark in exhibition games). The Coyotes have had three seven-game win streaks in the series (1952-56, 1960-62. 1984-86), while NNU seven-game win streak snapped last season.
ABOUT NNU: The Division II Crusaders (7-19 in 2013-14) were picked to finish eighth in the nine-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference and have 10 new faces on their roster. Their top returner is forward Kevin Rima (14.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg), who scored 20 points in an exhibition win over George Fox on Friday. Redshirt guard Mike Wright and redshirt forward Bouna N'Diaye will be complimented by Division I transfers Erik Kinney of Cal State Bakersfield and Parris Massey of Massachusetts.
OFF TO LEWISTON: C of I will head to Lewiston this weekend, competing in the Clearwater River Casino Invitational for the second time in the last three seasons. In 2012, the Yotes dropped a decision to host Lewis-Clark State and defeated Carroll College at the event – their first trip to the L-C Valley since 1985.
ABOUT L-C STATE: The Coyotes open the tournament against host Lewis-Clark State, as the Warriors (5-0) look to remain unbeaten on the season. L-C is averaging 101 points per game in wins over Whitman and two wins each against UBC-Okanogan and Northwest Indian College – making 58-percent of their field goal attempts and holding a plus-15 rebound margin. Erick Diouf (15.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg) is one of five players averaging in double figures, along with Jacob Wiley (15.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg), Brady Bagby (14.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg), Gavin Kauffman (12.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg), and Travis Van Diest (10.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg). It is the 78th all-time meeting, with C of I holding a 43-34 series edge, including a 89-78 victory in Caldwell last season.
ABOUT MONTANA TECH: Saturday, C of I closes out tournament play against Montana Tech, with the Orediggers (2-1) coming off an exhibition loss on Friday at Boise State. Tech opened the season with lopsided home wins over Alberta-Augustana and Concordia (Alberta), before losing 67-57 at Dickinson State. Big man Adam Greger (18.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg) leads MT, along with newcomer Antonio Snow (13.0 ppg, 2.7) – with the Orediggers looking to rebound after madding just 22-percent of their three-point tries through three games. It is the 31st meeting between the teams, with the Yotes holding a 20-10 series edge, including a 99-87 win last season in Salt Lake City.
RECORD BOOK: Senior
Sydney Donaldson (Coventry, England / Charis Prep) ranks No. 5 on C of I's all-time list in steals (170) and No. 9 in free throw attempts (357). Donaldson has scored 876 points in his career, just 124 away from the 1,000-point barrier.
NAIA TOP-25 COACHES' POLL: The Yotes were rated No. 7 in the NAIA Division II Preseason Coaches' Poll, released on Oct. 28. C of I received 303 voter points from the 14 conference raters, trailing only Indiana Wesleyan, Midland (Neb.), Cardinal Stritch (Wis.), Davenport (Mich.), Northwood (Fla.), and Bellevue (Neb.). Two other CCC teams are in the Top-25 – No. 17 Southern Oregon and No. 25 Concordia, while preseason opponents' Vanguard (No. 1), Westminster (No. 15), and Arizona Christian (No. 17) are ranked in the NAIA Division I poll. The first regular-season ranking is to be released on Dec. 2.
GAME RECAP – C OF I 77, ARIZONA CHRISTIAN 70: Joey Nebeker recorded his first collegiate double-double, leading C of I to a 77-70 win over Arizona Christian on Friday night. Nebeker scored 10 of his 13 points in the opening half, adding 11 rebounds on the night, as the Yotes extended their home court win streak to 18 games. The No.17 ranked Firestorm jumped out to a quick 12-point lead as ACU started the game a perfect 6-of-6 from the field. Sharif Watson scored nine of his game-high 25 in the first six minutes, leading his club on an 18-4 run to take a 20-8 lead. A pair of Josh Wilson free-throws started a 16-3 Coyote spurt to retake the lead at 24-23, before ACU held C of I to just one made field goal over the final eight minutes of the period to take a 38-33 lead at the break. The Firestorm had a 41-33 lead early in the second half, but a pair of Demetrius Perkins 3's got the Yotes rally started, with the second of two
Jordan O'Byrne (Lompoc, Calif. / Hancock CC) triples capping a 15-2 run that gave C of I a 57-50 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining. ACU would not go away, using a 9-0 run to regain the lead, holding a 63-62 edge inside the final seven minutes. However,
Marko Kovacevic (Belgrade, Serbia / U. of Utah) took a pass from Wilson with just over four-minutes left in the game and converted the bucket inside the paint to give C of I the lead for good. Perkins scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the second half, including five key free-throws down the stretch. Sydney Donaldson added 13 points, Wilson had 11, and Kovacevic added nine. The Yotes shot 40-percent from the field for the game, including a 46-percent clip in the second half. Mike Nevar scored 12, with Brandon Newman and Bobby Gray each scoring 11. ACU struggled from the floor in the second half, making just 10-of-35 from the field and finished the game 3-of-17 from three-point range.
GAME RECAP – C OF I 91, WALLA WALLA 59: Josh Wilson scored 11 points as the C of I knocked off Walla Walla University, 91-59, in the final game of the Taco Bell Shoot-Out. Wilson pulled down five rebounds and dished out five assists as the Yotes never trailed in the contest and won their 19th-straight home game. "Our home crowd is such a big part of our success. The Yote Fam and the Caldwell community are really behind our team," head coach
Scott Garson said. "That's why we owe it to them to give 100-percent every night." Luke Spady recorded a game-high 25 points as the Wolves fell behind early and were unable to get the deficit back to single digits past the 12-minute mark in the first half. Demetrius Perkins added a team-high 13 points, including a one-handed alley-hoop rim-shaker in the first five minutes of the game. A season-high 13 players scored for the Coyotes, four of which were in double-figures including 10 from Joey Nebeker and 10 from
Joe Vaz (Vista, Calif. / Palomar CC) who also pulled in six rebounds. Senior Marko Kovacevic scored six points and pulled down a team-high 12 boards on the night. The Coyotes dished out a season-high 27 assists in the game, including five from
Andrew Bruce (Boise, Idaho / Bishop Kelly HS) and four more from
Emanuel Morgan(Eugene, Ore. / Churchill HS). C of I also stole the ball 19 times with five different players recording three steals. "I was really happy with the effort of our whole team tonight," Garson said. "We played hard for 40 minutes that was our emphasis going into the game."
ABOUT THE COACH: Scott Garson is in his second season the Coyotes head coach and has a career coaching record of 32-6. During his rookie season, Garson led the Yotes to a 28-6 record, climbing to No. 2 in the NAIA Division II Top-25 poll, winning both the CCC regular-season and tournament titles – advancing to the NAIA Division II National Championships. For his efforts, he was named CCC Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Don Meyer NAIA Coach of the Year and the Jewish Coaches' Association Coach of the Year awards. The native of Calabasas, Calif., was an assistant for Ben Howland at UCLA from 2006-13, serving two prior seasons as the Bruins video coordinator. Garson was responsible for the development of perimeter players – including current NBA stars, Russell Westbrook, Arron Afflalo, Darren Collison, Kevin Love, and Jrue Holiday. Garson also was responsible for the recruitment of Zach LaVine, the 13th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. During Garson's tenure at UCLA, the Bruins amassed a record of 222-90, including Pac-10 titles in 2006, 2007 and 2008, a Pac-12 title in 2013, as well as Pac-10 Tournament titles in 2006 and 2008. The Bruins qualified for six NCAA National Tournaments and made trips to the Final Four in 2006, 2007 and 2008 – reaching the national championship game in 2006. Garson was instrumental in the recruiting efforts for the Bruins, who claimed ESPN's No. 1 recruiting class in both 2008 and 2012. A total of 15 players recruited or coached by Garson have been selected in the NBA Draft. The 38-year-old served as the video coordinator at Pepperdine University for one year before spending five seasons at the University of Utah under hall-of-fame coach and mentor, Rick Majerus. Garson was a graduate assistant for three seasons, video coordinator for one and assistant coach for another as the Utes won three Mountain West Conference titles and advanced to the NCAA National Tournament four times. Garson played one season of college basketball and baseball at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., before transferring to UC-Santa Barbara, where he earned a bachelor of arts in law and society. While at Utah, he received a master of science in exercise and sports science, with an emphasis in sport psychology.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more on the Coyotes, visit the official homepage of C of I basketball
http://yoteathletics.com/index.aspx?path=mbball&tab=0.
