CALDWELL, Idaho –
Aitor Zubizarreta scored a game-high 29 points and
Emanuel Morgan tallied eight of his career-high 14 points in the final five minutes, as the College of Idaho held off unbeaten Montana Tech, 98-90, inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
Box Score In a game that featured 54 fouls and 71 foul shots, the Yotes (4-2) made 32-of-39 free throws in ending a two-game losing skid and extending their home win streak to 37 games.
C of I built a 73-62 lead with eight minutes remaining, but the Orediggers (5-1) got eight points from Jalen Coates in a 13-3 run, cutting the margin to 76-75 with 5 minutes, 39 seconds left. Following a time out,
Marck Coffin drained a triple and Morgan took over – scoring four straight points and picking Coates clean, leading to a pair of Zubizarreta free throws to extend the lead to 85-79 – closing the contest by going 4-for-4 from the line.
Leading 40-36 at the break, the Yotes used a 10-2 run to push the lead to double-figures five minutes into the second half – fueled by
Joey Nebeker taking a charge on a Paul Engstrom dunk, with a 3-pointer from
Dominique Jordan and a lay-up by
Michael Goward giving C of I a 55-44 edge. The lead would bounce between 5-and-11 points until the see-saw finish.
"Xubi" made 8-of-14 field goals and 11-of-12 free throws, adding seven rebounds and three assists, with Jordan scoring 19 points, canning all nine of his freebies. Goward had nine points; Coffin had nine points, a team-high 11 rebounds and six assists; while Nebeker, C of I's leading scorer, was held to five points, but added six rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
Cruz Ginns Jr. had 28 points in the loss for the Diggers, making all 14 of his free throw attempts, with Coates going 4-of-6 from outside the arc as part of a 24-point night. Tech made 8-of-14 3-point tries in the second half to stay in the game and added 11 offensive rebounds.
Tomorrow, the Yotes meet Division II power Metro State, a 78-59 winner over Eastern Oregon in tonight's early contest, at 7 p.m. Tech and EOU open play at 5 p.m.
NOTES – The Coyotes hit 62-percent of their field goals in the second half; C of I recorded 21 assists on 28 made field goals, while MT had seven assists on 27 made shots; Morgan's top scoring night was 11 points on a pair of occasions – in a 2014 playoff game vs. Eastern Oregon and last season vs. Montana Tech at the Clearwater Casino Classic; C of I made 10-of-22 3-point attempts in the win.
