Yotes Open Season With 89-80 Win Over Montana Western
BUTTE, Mont. – Ivory Miles-Williams scored a career-high 17 points and Derek Wadsworth hit six consecutive free throws inside the final 30 seconds, as the College of Idaho opened the 2019-20 season with an 89-80 victory over Montana Western at the Big Sky Tip-Off.
The win for the No. 3-ranked Yotes (1-0) extended their school-record win streak in season openers to six-straight, while winning for the first time in the State of Montana since 2006.
C of I made 61-percent of their field goal attempts in the victory and withstood a rough shooting night from the foul line.
The Coyotes never trailed in the contest, as 3's from Ricardo Time and Nate Bruneel keyed a 10-3 run in the opening three minutes. A 13-4 run late in the first half, capped by a Bruneel jumper, extended the margin to 52-37.
Western (0-1) battled back, as Cedric Boone scored six of his game-high 27 points in a 16-5 run that cut the Coyote lead to 78-74 with two minutes left. The margin was 83-80 inside the final minute, before Wadsworth went 6-for-6 from the stripe in crunch time and the C of I defense forced consecutive turnovers to preserve the win.
Bruneel had 15 points, with point-guard Talon Pinckney scoring 14 points, adding nine assists and five rebounds. Tim had 12 points and five boards in his C of I debut, making 3-of-4 3-point attempts.
James Jones scored 14 points with six rebounds and 10 assists for the Bulldogs, with Brian Howell adding 14 points.
C of I closes out the trip tomorrow with a 7 p.m. match-up vs. host Montana Tech.
NOTES: It was the Yotes first win in Montana since a 87-83 victory at Western in December of 2006…C of I made eight of their first 21 free throws in the contest before Wadsworth's heroics…C of I had a 37-33 edge in rebounds, but the Bulldogs had a 16-2 edge in second-chance points…freshman Charles Elzie III had eight points, Braydon West scored three points and Otto Taylor added two points in their Coyote debuts.