BUTTE, Mont. –
Nate Bruneel scored 13 of his game-high 21 points in a pair of first half runs, as the College of Idaho completed a perfect weekend at the Big Sky Classic with a 90-84 victory over host Montana Tech at Kelvin Sampson Court.
The Yotes (2-0) won back-to-back games in Montana for the first time since 2003 – going wire-to-wire for the second-straight night.
C of I jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the first four minutes, as Bruneel opened the scoring with a 3-point play and capped the run with a 3-pointer. The senior added five more points in a 12-1 run midway through the half, as the Yotes built their biggest lead of the night at 33-17.
The Orediggers (1-1) battled back in the game, as a Drew Huse jumper cut the margin to 60-56 with 10 minutes left – but the Yotes answered with 3's from
Derek Wadsworth and
Ivory Miles-Williams – part of a 7-0 run that pushed the lead to double-digits.
Tech made one last surge, getting a Sindou Dallo triple with 17 seconds left to get within 87-84. However, the Coyotes made 3-of-4 free throws and forced the Diggers into a pair of missed shots to close the night.
The Coyotes made 48-percent of their field goal attempts, but canned 11-of-24 3-point attempts and made 29-of-38 free throws.
Miles-Williams had 15 points and five boards,
Ricardo Time had 14 points and six rebounds, with
Jalen Galloway scoring 13 off the bench.
Taylor England led Tech with 14 points and Nate Ward finished with 10 points and eight assists.
C of I continues their road swing next week with a pair of Division I exhibitions – Wednesday at Utah State and Friday at Utah Valley.
