Cardinals continue climb up SWAC standings

COEUR d'ALENE — There was no sophomore slump to be found on the court at North Idaho College on Saturday. 

Just fast starts and the host school moving one step closer to some pretty big goals. 

In the men's game, sophomore Vaughn Weems, who leads the NJCAA in scoring at 27.7 points per game, had 26 points and six assists for the Cardinals (15-12, 5-7 SWAC) in a 100-83 win over Salt Lake (17-10, 5-7) at Rolly Williams Court. Freshman Dace Pleasant also scored 26 and sophomore Deng Diew added 21 points and 12 rebounds for NIC, which moved into a tie for third in the conference standings with three games remaining. 

"They're all buying into each other and sharing the ball," NIC men's coach Corey Symons said. "The leading scorer in the country led us with six assists tonight. That doesn't happen very often and scorers have a scorer's mentality, but Vaughn shared the ball really well. We're sharing the ball and we've got to keep buying into the group and we're playing well right now." 

NIC faces Southern Idaho (20-7, 8-4) next Saturday in Twin Falls.

NIC led 53-38 at halftime and finished the game 33-of-56 shooting. 

"The nice thing is we're finally being patient and taking good shots," Symons said. "This might be a season high with 17 assists, so we're sharing the ball and doing the right things down the stretch. We're playing really well heading down the stretch and those guys are all buying into what we're doing right now, and we're taking advantage of that." 

NIC concludes the regular season at Utah State-Eastern (Feb. 27) and at Snow (March 1). 

"It really gives us a run going to a stretch on the road that isn't going to be easy," Symons said. "Going to CSI, then USU-Eastern and Snow, those are games we lost earlier this season. We're playing well and have to continue to buy in." 

NIC has won four of its last six starting with a 90-68 win at Salt Lake on Jan. 25 to move into third in the conference.
"The first part of the year, it took a while for everyone to buy in," Symons said. "Everyone wanted to be a leading scorer, or lead in assists. And now, they're buying into their role and the team, and it's been a different guy every night. We're just taking turns and buying in." 

Mason Bendinger scored 18 points for Salt Lake. 

"They're a good team and they do a good job of spacing the floor and playing through Vaughn," said Salt Lake coach Dave Rice, the former UNLV coach. "He's one of the best, if not the best player in junior college. They were ready and they did a good job of executing. Deng is one of the reasons why they're playing so well right now. They've figured out their roles and Corey does a good job as he always does and they're sharing the ball. And they're tough to guard right now and tough minded. They're very, very efficient on the defensive end right now as well." 

NIC faces Southern Idaho (20-7, 8-4) next Saturday in Twin Falls.

SALT LAKE 

Mason Bendinger 8-10 0-1 18, Sam Sivulich 4-8 0-0 10, Coen Collier 1-5 1-2 3, Ethan Copeland 4-11 2-2 14, Xavier Edmonds 3-10 4-5 10, Trey Brown 6-13 0-0 16, Luke Smellie 1-4 0-0 3, Kade Rice 1-2 0-0 3, Devin Carlson 3-3 0-0 6. Totals 31-66 7-10 83. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Vaughn Weems 8-14 8-9 26, Deng Diew 6-12 9-16 21, Ne'quan Brown 1-3 0-0 3, Dace Pleasant 9-13 2-2 26, Tayshawn Colvin 1-2 0-0 3, Mehmet Behner 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremiah Sibley 0-1 1-2 1, Sam Marbury 2-4 0-1 5, Jacori Ervin 0-0 0-0 0, Bryce Henry 0-0 0-0 0, Ajayi Simmons 6-7 1-1 16. Totals 33-56 21-31 100. 

Halftime — NIC 53-38. 3-point goals — SLCC 14-36 (Bendinger 2-4, Sivulich 2-5, Collier 0-3, Copeland 4-9, Edmonds 0-2, Brown 4-8, Smellie 1-3, Rice 1-2), NIC 13-22 (Weems 2-5, Brown 0-1, Pleasant 6-8, Colvin 1-2, Sibley 0-1, Marbury 1-2, Simmons 3-3). Rebounds — SLCC 23 (Edmonds 8), NIC 37 (Diew 12). Assists — SLCC 16 (Edmonds, Brown, Smellie 3), NIC 17 (Weems 6). Team fouls — SLCC 23, NIC 13. Fouled out — Sivulich. Technical fouls — Weems. 

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