CALDWELL, Idaho – In December, the College of Idaho surrendered a season-high 100 points to Southern Oregon in a road loss to the Raiders. Fast forward to the semifinals of the Cascade Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, presented by U.S. Bank, as the Coyotes limited SOU to just 50 total points for the second-time in eight days, punching their ticket to the title game with a 67-50 victory.
The fourth-ranked Coyotes (26-6) held the visitors to just five made field goals and 16 total points over the last 11 minutes of the contest – limiting their ninth opponent in the last 11 games to under 60 total points.
C of I will host No. 13-ranked Warner Pacific in Tuesday's title game – with tip-off set for just after 8 p.m. The game will be carried on radio in the Treasure Valley on 99.1-FM ESPN Boise and televised regionally on ROOT SPORTS – the Yotes first-ever home regional television broadcast in program history.
Tickets will be on sale Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for current reserved ticket holders to renew their seats. All tickets are expected to go on sale to the general public on Monday at Noon on YoteAthletics.com.
The Yotes took command early in the first half, getting 3's from
Talon Pinckney,
Roosevelt Adams and
Gibson Berryhill in an 18-4 run over a seven minute stretch to take a commanding 22-9 lead.
The margin was 35-23 at the break, but Southern had an answer, as Jordan Hunt scored a trio of baskets and Josh Washington had a put-back dunk to pull the Raiders within 41-36. Unfortunately, the visitors could not sustain the momentum.
Two free throws by
Aziz Leeks, a triple from Berryhill and five-straight
Keun Palu-Thompson points fueled a 13-0 C of I run over a three-minute stretch to blow the game wide open. Two hustle plays from
Nate Bruneel on rebounds extended possessions late, as the margin grew to as many as 21 points.
The Yotes made up a rough shooting second half (8-of-25) by connecting on 14-of-17 free throws in the frame and dominating the glass – with their 40-28 rebound margin the 17th-straight game C of I has won on the boards.
Adams and Pinckney led the Yotes with 14 points, with Leeks scoring 13. Berryhill had nine points, Palu-Thompson scored eight, with Bruneel adding seven points and joining Leeks and Adams with seven rebounds.
Hunt led all scorers with 16 points, making 8-of-13 field goal attempts, with Ben DeSaulnier and Kenny Meyer each scoring eight. SOU had 16 turnovers that led to 15 C of I points.
C of I improved to 9-2 at home in the CCC Tournament under head coach
Scott Garson and will put a 4-0 home record in league title tilts on the line – picking up crowns in 1996, 2004, 2014 and 2015.
The 2018 CCC Championship game on ROOT SPORTS will mark C of I's fifth televised game outside the Boise market (joining the 1996 NAIA title game, 2013 and 2015 games at Utah and a 2016 game at Arizona). ROOT SPORTS reaches approximately 3.2 million households across five states (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska), and delivers more than 350 live events each year – all of which are available in high definition. Fans can use the Channel Finder at
rootsports.com to find the channel in their area on cable or satellite television – including Dish Network Channel 426; DirecTV Channel 687; Cable One Channel 149 in the Treasure Valley. The game will also be available on all digital platforms for ROOT SPORTS subscribers.
