CALDWELL, Idaho –
Nate Bruneel led six College of Idaho players in double-figures with 15 points, while
Matt Meyers grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds, as the Coyotes picked up their 25th win of the season, a 78-68 victory over Warner Pacific inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The win for the Yotes (25-3, 14-2 CCC) moved the club into sole possession of first-place in the Cascade Conference standings – as Oregon Tech fell on the road at Corban. The hosts won despite making just 35-percent of their field goals, but held a 49-39 edge on the glass.
C of I used a key 8-0 run late in the first half to break at 25-25 stalemate.
Jake Bruner recorded one of 19 offensive rebounds and stuck home the put-back to begin the rally, with
Justin Saunders following with a deep 3-pointer and added three free throws after a foul outside the arc.
A Saunders 3-pointer midway through the second half gave the Yotes their largest lead at 58-44, but the Knights (14-13, 5-11) hung around – holding C of I without a made field goal for a four-minute stretch. The lead would shrink to six on three occasions, the last on a 23-foot Collin Malcolm triple inside the final two minutes.
The Coyotes would seal the win at the foul line, making 7-of-8 from the stripe in the final 60 seconds.
Keun Palu-Thompson was a perfect 6-of-6 during crunch time, finishing with 11 points.
Talon Pinckney scored all 13 of his points in the second half, adding six assists and four steals;
Gibson Berryhill and Saunders each scored 12, with
Ivory Miles-Williams recording 10 points and six rebounds off the bench. Meyers played 28 minutes and scored just two points – but logged the most rebounds by a Coyote since Marko Kovacevic had 20 boards vs. Montana State-Northern in 2014.
Tonight marked the final home regular-season game for Palu-Thompson, Berryhill, Meyers and
Daniel Webster – with the quartet joining Bruneel in the starting line-up.
Malcolm had 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Knights, who fell into a 3-way tie for the final two playoff spots in the CCC Championships. Gabe Garrett added 18 points, but WPU was outscored 23-9 on second-chance points and 38-12 by the C of I bench.
The Yotes hit the road for their final two regular-season games – starting Friday night at Southern Oregon.
