COSTA MESA, Calif. – Marko Kovacevic recorded his third double-double of the season as the No.7 College of Idaho upset the defending NAIA Division I National Champion and current No.1 ranked Vanguard University 80-79 earlier today.
Tied at 79 with under 35-seconds remaining, the Coyotes (11-0) brought the ball up the floor, dished it inside to Kovacevic who was fouled and sent to the charity stripe with under five-seconds left. At the line, Kovacevic split a pair of free-throws to give the Yotes an 80-79 advantage.
"Every week Marko gets better and better. He dominated in the paint and the boards tonight. It was a tremendous effort by him," head coach Scott Garson said.
Vanguard (4-3) had a desperation attempt for the win from half-court as time expired, but was unsuccessful, handing the Yotes their second upset of a No.1 ranked team in the last three years.
"Vanguard was the best team that we've played against in the two years I've been the coach here," Garson added. "Our team showed great toughness and character through the adversity of both foul trouble and being down a majority of the second half. We really buckled down defensively and got some key stops."
Two other Yotes were in double-figures as Demetrius Perkins had a team-high 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting, starting the game with three triples to give the Yotes an early lead. Joey Nebeker scored 12 points on 15 shots and Emanuel Morgan played a key role in the upset win on both sides of the ball, filling in for Josh Wilson who only played 16-minutes due to foul trouble.
"Manny was incredible tonight on both ends of the floor. With Josh being in foul trouble, Manny had to play the most minutes he's had to play on the year; our team didn't miss a beat once again speaking to our depth, especially playing without Joe Vaz and other starters in major foul trouble."
DeAngelo Jones had a game-high 33 points for the Lions, going 17-of-18 from the free-throw on the afternoon.
The Lions shot 45-percent from the field, including 43-percent from downtown. C of I shot their second best percentage from the field for the season, 43-percent, including 8-of-21 from three-point territory.
Despite being without seven-foot, one-inch Joe Vaz, the Yotes outrebounded the Lions 45-30 and cashed in on 17 second-chance points in the win.
With the victory, the Yotes remain undefeated and became the first team in all of college basketball to reach 11 wins on the 2014-15 season.
The Coyotes will close out the California swing tomorrow evening at 6 P.M. PST, when they take on the 2011-12 NAIA Division I National Champion, Concordia-Irvine.
"Playing Concordia-Irvine is like playing against Duke at our level. They are a traditional power house that has won two national championships in the last decade," Garson said. "I expect our team will have no problem getting up for a game like this; it will be a great challenge in our last game before conference play."