Zubizarreta Scores 45 in College of Idaho Victory
Aitor Zubizarreta poured in 45 points and grabbed nine rebounds Saturday night to lead the College of Idaho Coyotes to a 100-85 Cascade Collegiate Conference men's basketball victory over The Evergreen State College at CRC Gymnasium.
Zubizarreta, a junior transfer from the University of Portland, shot 19-for-24 from the field, including 5-for-8 from beyond the three-point line, in scoring his career-high for the Coyotes (14-10 overall, 9-6 CCC) and the most by a College of Idaho player in more than 20 years. The Geoducks (8-15, 5-10), who lost their fourth straight game, got 25 points from Taylor Drey and 23 points and 15 rebounds from Danny Powell.
The Coyotes never trailed in the game, racing out to a quick 13-3 lead with Zubizarreta scoring seven points and Joey Nebeker the other six. The Geoducks replied with 10 unanswered points, eight of them by Taylor Drey, to tie the game at 13-13 about five minutes into the contest.
That was the only tie, however, and the Coyotes pulled away to build a 44-35 edge at the half. By that point Zubizarreta had 25 points and eight rebounds. College of Idaho's largest lead came at 99-78 on a three-ball by - you guessed it, Zubizarreta - with 1:37 to play. Those were his final points of the game, but they were more than enough to give the Coyotes the victory.
Nebeker, College of Idaho's leading scorer this season, tallied 23 points and also grabbed seven rebounds, while Dominique Jordan tallied 16 points. Emanuel Morgan finished the game with 10 assists and four steals for the winners, who shot nearly 60 percent (40-for-67) overall and 45 percent from beyond the three-point line.
Drey, who tallied a career-high 30 points in last night's loss to Eastern Oregon, got his 25 on 9-for-19 shooting, including five three-pointers, and he also contributed four assists and three steals. Powell recorded his 14th double-double of the season, and Brock Otis added 16 points, three assists and three steals for the Geoducks.
Evergreen shot 46 percent overall and grabbed 35 rebounds compared to 37 for the Coyotes.
The Geoducks return to action next Friday when they face conference leader Northwest Christian in Eugene, Ore.