CALDWELL, Idaho – It was a Senior Night to remember for the College of Idaho, as the Coyotes got monster performances from their seven honorees in a 101-63 victory over Walla Walla inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
Emanuel Morgan broke the school record for assists, piling up 17 on the night – with three other seniors scoring over 20 points in the victory for the No. 25 ranked Coyotes (22-8, 15-5 CCC). C of I finishes the regular-season in a tie for second in the Cascade Conference standings and will await their seed and quarterfinal pairing tomorrow afternoon.
The Wolves (3-24, 2-17) hung around early, as Ethan Osias hit a runner and a 3-pointer in an 11-2 run that pulled the Washington squad even at 24-24 with just under nine minutes left in the period. The visitors were within 38-34 when the Yotes went on a 14-0 flurry – getting a Dominque Jordan 3-pointer, three triples from
Trevor Thomas and a monster breakaway dunk from
Joey Nebeker – to lead 52-36 at the half.
WWU was within 73-54 midway through the second half before C of I went on a 28-4 run over a nine minute stretch – including 14 points from Nebeker – to blow the game wide open.
Morgan had 11 of his 17 assists in the first half, as the senior broke the previous school record of 15, set twice (1995 by Terrell White, 1985 by
Mark Owen). He added four points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Nebeker scored a season high 33 points, on 13-of-22 shooting – making six of the Yotes 20 3-point baskets. Jordan scored 24 points – one off his career high – making 6-of-9 3-pointers, with Thomas scoring a career-high 20.
Michael Goward had six points and five rebounds, with
Chris Vines recording five points and seven rebounds in their final regular-season home contest.
Alec Calloway led the Wolves with 15 points, with Dylan Browning logging a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The Yotes will take an eight-game win streak into the postseason and finished the regular-season 13-1 at home.
C of I and Oregon Tech will have a coin flip tomorrow afternoon to determine either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed to the CCC Championships, or the teams will flip for either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed. A win by Corban at Southern Oregon in their Sunday matinee would give C of I and OIT the chance at the higher seeds (and give Eastern Oregon, who is tied with the bunch at 15-5, the No. 4 seed to the tournament), while a SOU win would clinch Eastern the No. 2 seed and relegate C of I or OIT to the two lower host seeds.
NOTES: Thomas had scored 19 points in 42 total minutes of action this season before his outburst tonight; Morgan's 17 assists are the most in the CCC this season – and the highest total since Corban's A.J. Monterossi had 18 assists vs. New Hope Christian in January of 2016; Nebeker recorded his fifth career game with 30 or more points and equaled his career-high with 13 made field goals; the 20 made 3-pointers by the Yotes marked the fourth time in school history that the team made 20 or more triples, with the 46 3-point attempts tying the school record; C of I finishes the regular season averaging 1,432 fans per game.
