KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Defending national champion The College of Idaho men’s basketball team punched its ticket to the Fab Four with a 73-56 win over Morningside on Saturday night.
Sophomore guard Samaje Morga scored a game-high 24 points to lead the College of Idaho, who improved to 32-3. It marked the 15th time in the season that the Eugene native has been the top scorer for the Yotes. Indicative of the season, it was not just a one-person show.
Morningside (24-10) managed to make it a one-point game, 30-29, scoring the first two points of the second half. College of Idaho scored 10 of the next 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers by senior Tyler Robinett to push the lead to nine, 40-31 with 17:35 left to play. The Yotes would stretch the lead to as much as 11 on three occasions, but the contest was far from over.
The Mustangs managed to come back and cut the deficit to four, 54-50, with 7:37 left to play when Daniel Brocaille hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game. The Yotes stayed true to its game plan and experience as senior Johnny Radford hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession as the College of Idaho scored the next 12 points for a 66-50 lead with 3:50 left to play. The 12 points showed the balance of the Yotes roster with five different contributors to the spurt. College of Idaho would build the lead to as large as 19 on its way to the win.
Joey Skoff and Brocaille each scored 16 in the win to lead Morningside. For Skoff, he was held to just six in the final 20 minutes after scoring 10 in the first half.
To go along with the 24 points by Morgan, Radford added 12 and Robinett scored 10. Jake O’Neil left his imprint on the game with a game-high 12 rebounds. It is the 11th time in the season that the Fruitland native has pulled down double-digit rebounds.
With the win, the College of Idaho joins the other three No. 1 seeds in the Fab Four for the first time in NAIA history since 1972. Next up for the College of Idaho is a matchup on Monday at 7 p.m. (CST)/6 p.m. (MT) against Langston.