CALDWELL, Idaho – No. 1 College of Idaho put on a highlight-reel performance Tuesday night, using a second-half surge and a series of thunderous dunks to dominate Bushnell, 88-61, in the Cascade Conference Tournament quarterfinals at J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The Yotes (27-2) wasted little time setting the tone, jumping out to a 44-26 halftime lead. One of the early exclamation points came from Tyler Robinett, who drove straight through two Bushnell defenders and threw down a ferocious dunk off a feed from Dougie Peoples, bringing the packed home crowd to its feet.
In the second half, the Yotes took full control. Straton Rogers buried a deep three-pointer to keep momentum on C of I's side, then moments later, Peoples found him in transition for a powerful two-handed slam, capping a 15-2 run that put the game away. Not to be outdone, Paul Wilson added his own highlight-reel moment, soaring for a thrilling dunk off a sneaky pass by Straton Rogers on the baseline.
Wyman led the Yotes with 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Morgan and Johnny Radford chipped in 14 and 12, respectively. Wilson provided an efficient 11 points off the bench, and Robinett stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, five rebounds, and four blocks. College of Idaho shot 52.1% from the field and dominated the boards, outrebounding Bushnell 51-32.
Squeeky Johnson paced the Beacons with 15 points, but Bushnell struggled to find rhythm, shooting just 34.3% from the floor and 26.7% from deep.
With the win, the Yotes advance to the CCC semifinals, set to host the winner of Southern Oregon vs. Eastern Oregon on Friday at 7 p.m. in Caldwell, as they continue their pursuit of another conference title.
