CALDWELL, Idaho – No. 4 College of Idaho jumped out to a 28-8 lead in the opening 10 minutes but it was a spurt of scoring seven of the final 10 points that proved to be the difference in an 81-74 win over Montana Western in the opening round of the Domino’s Pizza Classic on Friday night.
College of Idaho (2-1), who was playing in its home opener fed off the energy of its home crowd for the early lead, was sparked by its bench as reserves Johnny Radford and Samaje Morgan scored 24 and 14 points, respectively. Plus, Straton Rogers came off the bench to give a spark with 11 rebounds for the Yotes.
Montana Western (0-1) overcame the early deficit and shot 45.6% from the field in the loss. Ky Kouba kept the Bulldogs in the game with his sharpshooting, making six 3-pointers on his way to 22 points. Jok Jok added 15 and Jamal Stephenson scored 14 in the loss.
With the game tied for the sixth time and at 51, Morgan who was playing his first home game sparked an 11-0 run for the Yotes that saw Radford and Charles Elzie make 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to bring the frenzy spirit on Idaho Night back into the J.A. Albertson Activities Center. Twice in the final minutes, the Bulldogs had the deficit down to three but it was going to the calm and collected freshman to seal the win. He answered the challenge, making five of six free throws on the way to the victory for the Yotes.
Next, College of Idaho will face Embry Riddle (Ariz.) in the final game of the Domino’s Pizza Classic on Saturday at 7 p.m.