CALDWELL, Idaho – A 16-2 run midway through the first half broke open a close game, as The College of Idaho won the 2021-22 Cascade Collegiate Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, presented by U.S. Bank, title, blowing past Southern Oregon University, 78-55, inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The No. 9-ranked Yotes (29-4) won their school record 19th home game of the season and their league best 10th tournament titlte – joining the 2018, 2019 and 2020 teams to bring home the Danny Miles Trophy.
Facing the No. 5-seeded Raiders (18-15) for the third time this season, C of I used an uptempo style to build a big first half lead. SOU took their lone lead of the night at 4-3 on a pair of Josh Meyer free throws, only to see the Yotes answering with a 13-4 run – keyed by six of Caden Handran’s career-high 11 points.
SOU cut the margin to 20-16 on an Elijah Jackson triple with 11 minutes left – but the Coyotes held the visitors without a made field goal for a 7-minute stretch. Paul Wilson started the big run with a lay-up, Ivory Miles-Williams converted a runner and Ricardo Time and Drew Wyman splashed triples. Wilson added a second bucket, Time had a backcourt steal and lay-up, with Wyman knocking down a runner to give C of I a 36-18 edge.
The Raiders tried to battle back in the second half, cutting the margin to 13 points on five occasions – but could not get closer. C of I put the game on ice with a 14-3 run – including a thunderous transition dunk from Jake O’Neil and a O’Neil to Wilson alley-oop – extending the lead to 71-42.
O’Neil led the Coyotes with 13 points, with Wyman scoring 12 and Time added 11. C of I made 50-percent of their field goals in the victory and posted a 47-27 edge on the glass.
Atmar Mundu led SOU with 13 points and Meyer scored 12 – as the Raiders fell short in securing their first league crown since 2005.
NOTES: Miles-Williams becomes just the second CCC student-athlete to win four men’s basketball tournament titles, joining Oregon Tech’s Kyle Gomez, who won four championships from 2009-12…with the C of I win, Oregon Tech earns the CCC’s second automatic bid to the NAIA Championships…the victory was C of I’s 22nd win in 23 games…C of I head coach Colby Blaine picked up his 99th career victory in 121 career games as head coach.