The Bruin men came into the weekend needing a sweep to hold onto second place in conference play, that is just what they got.
SLCC came back home this past weekend after two rough losses up in Idaho. They took on the College of Eastern Utah and Colorado Northwestern Community College. Friday night they earned a tough fought win over CEU 75-73. Saturday it was smoother sailing as they worked CNCC 91-67.
“We had to get these. If we would have lost these at home it would have been tough to make up,” Said sophomore Darian Norris.
The first half was one off the ugliest halves of basketball you could ever see played this side of freshman ball. The two teams combined for as many turnovers as rebounds. CEU had the much worse half as they sent it the Bruins way 16 times compared to the nine the Bruins had. If the Golden Eagles could have taken care of the ball their 56 percent shooting could have buried the Bruins 34 percent. A blue collar half by Norris kept the Bruins close. He finished the half with four boards, four assists, and two points to get the Bruins going.
The second half was a bit cleaner, but the Bruins were still able to force 29 turnovers for the game and pick up the crucial 75-73 win. John Hayward-Mayhew came off the bench and had 15 points. Wil Carter and Norris each ended up with 12. With the win the Bruins moved into sole possession second place in conference.
Saturday was much more uneventful as the last place team in conference could hardly muscle up a shot in the second half to allow the Bruins to pull away with the 91-67 win.
The first half was the Carter show as he came out as aggressive as ever and got his double-double by halftime with 17 points and 12 boards. With Carter’s help the Bruins pushed their lead to 11 with four minutes left in the first half. A manic finish by the Spartans was able to close it to four and go into the half down 39-35. It was the Bruins struggles from the 3-point line as they shot a very pedestrian 1-10 in the first half. Steven Roninson led the Spartans with 14 points on 6-8 from the field and 2-4 from deep.
The second half the Bruins made a statement that they had had enough. It was a much more even attack as they poured in 52 points and held the Spartans to 32. SLCC was able to force 8 turnovers and gave up only seven. The Bruins shot 58 percent in the second half and 51 for the game. Also every Bruin who got into the game was able to score. They held the Spartans to 39 percent for the half and 45 percent for the game.
Carter finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Collin Chiverton had 16 points on 8-13 shooting. Off the bench Craig Cusick and Hayward-Mayhew had solid games. Cusick finished with 10 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Hayward-Mayhew had 11 points. Roninson finished with 23 points and eight boards for CNCC.
“These were big wins they will hopefully get us going for the weekends to come,” Said Norris.
The Bruins travel to Ephraim to take on Snow College this Saturday. When the Bruins return home they will take on the College of Southern Idaho on Friday Feb. 12. Tip-off is set for 7:30pm. On Saturday Feb. 13 the fourth ranked Cardinals of North Idaho come to the lifetime Activity Center. Tip-off is set for 5:00pm. All home games are played in the Lifetime Activity Center on the Taylorsville Redwood Campus.
