CALDWELL, Idaho – The College of Idaho men's basketball team saw their string of 3-straight Cascade Conference Tournament titles snapped by No. 4-ranked Lewis-Clark State, as the Warriors rode a 30-point night from Damek Mitchell to defeat the Yotes, 80-71, inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
LC (16-1) swept the best-of-three series to determine the CCC's automatic bid to the NAIA Championships, while the Yotes will hope to receive one of the 11 at-large bids to the tournament.
A second half run by the Warriors was the difference in the victory – as after the Yotes (7-9) erased a 12-point first half deficit to pull even at 35-35 with 15 minutes to go – LC scored on 6-straight possessions to regain command. Mitchell hit back-to-back 3s, Travis Yenor hit two free throws, Mitchell had a fastbreak bucket, with Hodges Bailey canned a triple, as the visitors took a 50-40 lead.
C of I cut the gap to 50-44 on baskets from
Jake O'Neil and
Ricardo Time, but LC went on a 11-2 run to break the game open.
The Warriors made 11 3-pointers and scored 16 points off 17 C of I turnovers.
Defense was the story in the first half, as the Coyotes missed their first eight shots – falling behind 9-1, before a pair of
Derek Wadsworth 3-balls fueled an 11-3 run that got C of I even at 12-12. LCSC answered with a 12-0 run over a 7-minute stretch, taking a 26-14 lead after consecutive Jake Albright jumpers.
Trailing 32-21, The Yotes closed the half on a 6-0 run, capped by a Wadsworth driving lay-up to pull within five and got even early in the second half after consecutive inside baskets from
Connor Desaulniers before LC made their run.
Four Coyotes scored in double-figures, led by 16 points and nine rebounds from O'Neil and 15 points off the bench from Wadsworth. C of I made 37-percent of their field goals on the night.
Mitchell made 5-of-9 3-point attempts and 9-of-10 free throws, adding five assists, five steals and four rebounds. Bailey scored 13, with Trystan Bradley posting 12 points and 11 rebounds.
NOTES:
- The loss ended a 9-game home playoff win streak by the Coyotes, dating back to the 2016-17 season
- Paul Wilson scored a career-high 11 points in the loss, with Time adding 10 points and 10 rebounds
- C of I had won five of the last seven titles in the event sponsored by U.S. Bank – earning the crowns in 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2020
- LCSC clinches their eight-straight trip to the NAIA National Championships
