Men’s Basketball blows past Blue Mountain

NIC men’s basketball put on a show in their commanding 125-63 win over Blue Mountain Saturday afternoon.

Yusuf Mohamed dunks after a steal. NIC had a team total of 23 steals in the victory. Five cardinal players racked up three steals each, while four others had two steals each.

The Cardinals looked dominant from start to finish in the victory, and shot a staggering 60 percent from field while forcing a season high 31 turnovers, in head coach Corey Symons’ first NWAC game this season since his ten-game suspension.

NIC only trailed for 19 seconds of game time, and despite the Timberwolves shooting 59 percent from the field and out-rebounding NIC in the first half, the Cards went into halftime up 63-41.

The Cards turned up their defensive intensity in the second half, and held Blue Mountain to 27 percent shooting. Offense came easy for NIC and they were able to score at will against a Blue Mountain defense that allows the second-most points-per-game in the NWAC.

Leading the way offensively for the Cards was Christian Guess, the second-year transfer from Missouri, who had 31 points in the victory. Joey Naccarato put up 17 points, and Nate Pryor had 16.

Up next for the third-ranked Cards (5-0, 17-1) is a game at Columbia Basin (1-4, 6-11) on Monday Jan. 20 at 4 p.m. The Cards then return home to play a huge game against fifth-ranked Spokane (6-0, 16-3) for the top spot in the East region Wednesday Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m.