CALDWELL, Idaho –
Aziz Leeks scored 21 points, including three key buckets in an 8-0 second half run to put the game away, as the College of Idaho went wire to wire to stop Colorado Christian, 76-69, in the 30
th Annual Taco Bell Shoot-Out in the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The Division II Cougars (2-1) cut a 17-point second half deficit to 62-59 with just over seven minutes to play, but a Leeks put-back basket and an alley-oop dunk fueled the game-changing run in C of I's home opener.
Joey Nebeker had 17 points and nine rebounds – pushing his career total to 998 points – two points shy of becoming the 26th C of I player to break the 1,000-point mark in a career.
Both
Dominique Jordan and
Aitor Zubizarreta had 11 points in the win, with
Emanuel Morgan recording five of C of I's 17 steals, as the Yotes forced 20 CCU turnovers.
Ty McGee led the Cougars with 21 points, with Dimitri Saliba scoring 18 points with seven assists and five boards, but committed 10 turnovers.
The Yotes made their first four shots, including a five points from Nebeker, in a 9-2 run to open the contest – as C of I made 67-percent of their first half attempts. CCU cut the gap to 23-22 on an Isaiah Hansen triple, but back-to-back Leeks buckets and a Jordan trey made it 30-22, with Jordan's second 3-pointer of the half giving the Coyotes their largest lead of the period at 44-30.
C of I extended the lead to 51-34 early in the second half on a Jordan free throw line jumper, but the Cougars heated up from outside – getting two triples from Saliba and Andre Lane to make it a one possession game – but the Yotes held on.
The Coyotes continue tournament play tomorrow night, meeting Portland Bible at 6 p.m. – with the game in the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa. PBC lost tonight's opener, 102-50, to Northwest Nazarene.
