CALDWELL, Idaho –
Nate Bruneel scored a game-high 22 points and hit six of College of Idaho's 16 made 3-pointers, as the Coyotes recorded their most prolific postseason victory in school history, blowing past Warner Pacific, 96-61, in the quarterfinals of the Cascade Conference Championships, presented by U.S. Bank, inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The No. 7-ranked Yotes (26-5) advance to Saturday's semifinals, where they will meet No. 8 seed Northwest University at 7 p.m. NU upset regular-season champion, Oregon Tech, 78-75 – just the third No. 8 seed to win a CCC Tournament quarterfinal game in the 25-year history of the tournament. Reserved Season Ticket Holders will have through Thursday at 5 p.m. to secure their seats for Saturday's game, with tickets going on sale to the general public via YoteAthletics.com on Friday morning.
The 35-point margin of victory was the largest playoff win in the over 100-year history of the C of I program, surpassing a 110-77 win over Western Baptist in the 1993 postseason.
Bruneel was instrumental in a 13-0 run midway through the first half that helped C of I build a 31-13 lead 12 minutes into the game. The junior converted a tip-in and splashed a triple to start the run, with
Keun Palu-Thompson canning a pair of runners to cap the rally – while WPU was held without a made field goal for an eight-minute stretch.
The Yotes led 45-25 at the break, but the Knights (16-14) opened the second half on a 7-0 run, as Collin Malcolm hit a driving lay-up, Brandon Bell canned an elbow jumper and Malcolm drained a step-back triple. The lead was 50-37 with 15 minutes to play when C of I ran off 15 of the next 17 points – as Bruneel and
Talon Pinckney started the run with 3-pointers and
Gibson Berryhill ended the rally with the first of his four second half triples.
C of I made 50-percent of their field goals, while making 16-of-33 from outside the arch against the Knights' zone defense – with the victors finishing with 26 assists on 36 made field goals. The Coyotes finished with a 44-33 edge on the glass, while recording just seven turnovers on the night.
Bruneel was 6-of-10 from 3-point range, while adding seven rebounds. Palu-Thompson had 16 points, five rebounds and four assists; Berryhill scored 12 on 4-of-5 shooting from long range; with Pinckney recording 10 points, five assists and four steals.
Jalen Galloway had eight points off the bench, with
Ivory Miles-Williams adding eight points and seven boards.
Malcolm led WPU with 21 points – but was just 1-of-10 from 3-point range – while adding eight rebounds. Bell had 12 points and Jalen Ballard scored seven, but the Knights ended the evening just 4-of-23 from 3-point range.
