SALEM, Ore. –
Nate Bruneel led four College of Idaho players in double-figures with 17 points, as the Coyotes became the first Cascade Conference men's basketball team to complete an unbeaten league season, rolling past Corban University, 69-54, inside C.E. Jeffers Center.
The No. 1-ranked Coyotes (27-3, 20-0 CCC) join their 1954-55 counterparts as the only C of I teams in the 109-year history of the program to finish a season unbeaten in league play. The Elgin Baylor-R.C. Owens led C of I team posted a 15-0 mark in Northwest Conference play.
The Yotes extended their school-record win streak to 21 games – now the fourth-longest in all of college basketball.
C of I earns the No. 1 seed in next week's CCC Championships, presented by U.S. Bank and will earn a rematch with Corban on Wednesday at 7 p.m. inside the Activities Center. The Warriors (13-17, 7-13) won a tiebreak with Multnomah for the final berth in the tournament.
Bruneel scored the Coyotes first four points, with
Ricardo Time adding consecutive 3-pointers in the 12-2 run to open the contest. C of I added a 13-2 spurt over the final seven minutes of the frame – getting six
Ivory Miles-Williams points in the flurry to take a 37-20 lead to the locker room.
The Warriors started strong in the second half, as Tyler Wadleigh and Jason Smarr splashed triples in a 13-2 run to cut the margin to 39-33 – but the hosts did not get closer.
Talon Pinckney capped a 7-point Coyote run with a 3-pointer, reestablishing a 63-47 lead with five minutes to go.
Miles-Williams scored 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting, with Time and Pinckney each scoring 10. C of I committed a season-low six turnovers and had a 46-34 rebound margin.
Wadleigh led Corban with 19 points, with Smarr adding 17.
