CALDWELL, Idaho – The top defensive team in the NAIA Division II ran their win streak to 23 games, as the College of Idaho scored 18 points off Eastern Oregon turnovers in an 84-57 victory in the semifinals of the Cascade Conference Championships, presented by U.S. Bank, inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The No. 1-ranked Yotes (29-3) held EOU to just 35-percent shooting and used a 50-35 edge on the glass to move into Tuesday's title game against either Oregon Tech or Southern Oregon at 7 p.m. Tickets to the general public will go on sale on Monday at 9 a.m. at YoteAthletics.com and in the Activities Center ticket office.
Eastern (17-14) led 10-8 with 12 minutes left in the first half, but C of I held the Mountaineers to just one made field goal over the next nine minutes – as the Yotes used 3-pointers from
Ricardo Time,
Jalen Galloway and
Otto Taylor in a 19-3 run to grab a 27-13 lead.
C of I led 35-24 at the break, but consecutive triples from Brandon Porter and Max McCullough pulled the visitors within 37-30 – but eight straight
Ricardo Time points and an acrobatic 3-point play from
Talon Pinckney started a game-clinching 23-6 run by the Coyotes.
Galloway had 19 points and six rebounds in the victory, with Pinckney scoring 16 and Time adding 14. Four different C of I players had at least six rebounds – led by
Connor Desaulniers with eight.
Porter led EOU with 15 points, with Jarek Schetzle scoring 14.
NOTES: it is the third-straight season and the fifth time in seven years that C of I will host the CCC title game…head coach
Colby Blaine improved to 60-9 in his two seasons with the Yotes.
