Coyotes Outlast Northwest 75-72
CALDWELL, Idaho –
Aitor Zubizarreta broke the eleventh and final tie of the game with a 3-pointer with one minute remaining, lifting No. 16 ranked College of Idaho past Northwest University, 75-72, in a Cascade Conference Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, quarterfinal matchup inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The Yotes (23-8) withstood a pair of late game-tying 3-point attempts to win their ninth game in a row and advance to the semifinals, where third-seeded C of I will host fourth-seed Oregon Tech on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
Reserved and Lifetime Season Ticket holders will have until noon on Friday to secure their tickets for Saturday's semifinal game – with the C of I ticket office open tomorrow Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and again Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. General Admission tickets can be purchased beginning tomorrow at 9 a.m., with all tickets available to the general public Friday at noon online at YoteAthletics.com.
After Justice Martion converted a runner in the lane to tie the score at 72-72, Zubizarreta was left uncovered at the top of the key, splashing the triple to give C of I the lead. Ben Tucakovic looked to answer with 45 seconds left, but missed a triple and following a Coyote miss, the Eagles (19-10) had a final look, but Michael Dupree left a straight-away 22-footer just short with one second left to end the contest.
C of I jumped out to a quick 10-5 first half lead – making their first four field goals, including a monster dunk from
Aziz Leeks. NU answered with a Dupree triple that started a 7-0 run to give the Eagles their first lead of the night – with the two teams trading the lead seven times in the period and neither team leading by more than three points – as the visitors took a 36-34 lead to the locker room.
The Yotes looked to pull away midway through the second half, as a Zubizarreta triple and a steal and basket by
Joey Nebeker gave C of I their largest lead of the night at 60-52. NU would not go away, as a Kaelan Hicks runner in the lane capped an 11-2 run that gave the visitors a 63-62 lead with six minutes to play. The teams would trade the lead eight additional times before Zubizarreta's go-ahead 3-pointer.
Nebeker had his second-straight huge night for the Coyotes, scoring a game-high 28 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the floor, adding eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Zubizarreta scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half, with
Aziz Leeks adding 13 points – including a key 3-point play late in the contest. C of I won despite being outrebounded 44-32, but recorded a season-low seven turnovers.
Martion tied a season-high with 23 points for the Eagles, making 9-of-14 field goal attempts, with Dupree scoring 18 and Tucakovic 12. The NU bench outscored the Yote reserves 31-7, with Kaelan Hicks logging eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
NOTES – The win for the Yotes improved C of I to 18-6 all-time in the CCC Championships at home – including an 11-4 record in quarterfinal games; the victory ended a three-game postseason losing streak to the Eagles – dating back to a 77-60 win in 2004 quarterfinals; with his effort tonight, Nebeker moved past Jared Klassen into eighth-place on the C of I all-time scoring list; the Coyotes earned the right to host a semifinal game when top-seed Northwest Christian was upset at home by Corban, 105-76; Corban will travel to No. 2 seed Eastern Oregon in one semifinal, as EOU dispatched Warner Pacific, 84-58, while OIT treks to Caldwell after topping rival Southern Oregon, 89-77.