Ricks College crushed by Eastern Utah but finishes victorious over Colorado

Marie MacKay
Sports Editor

Adam Hiatt, a sophomore from Bonners Ferry, Idaho, lays another field goal in against Eastern Utah Thursday. Hiatt brought in 17 points for the Ricks’ mens basketball team. Ricks lost to Eastern Utah 86-78. James Ricks / Scroll

After progressively establishing a soft, pillowy cushion of comfort against the Colorado Northwestern Spartans Saturday, the team was ready to head home for bed by the second half.

The Vikings kept their holding with their 20-point cushion throughout the second half of the game, keeping their win solid for a final score of 83-61 and improving to 11-4 overall.

Adam Hiatt led the Vikings with 19 points and five rebounds, while Kyle Steven brought in eight rebounds.

“Kyle Stevens is getting better and better and Adam Hiatt keeps a steady team defense,” Coach Clyde Nelson said.

Aaron Bowman brought in 10 points and Joe Green brought in 11.

The Vikings had a high level of intensity the first half and were obviously in control of the game. But they fizzled towards the end, hitting only 31percent of their shots.

“We had more emotion and played a good first half,” Nelson said. “But we didn’t shoot well and we lost a lot of the intensity.”

From the three-point line, both teams were determined to establish their domain. CNCC could not seem to move into the basket, putting up 32 attempts from the three-point line and hitting only five of them, while Ricks only sank in seven of its 23 attempts.

It was a decision between physical power or actual skill shown by the number of free throws during the second half. Both teams combined shot 46 free throws compared to the 13 in the first half.

Ricks vs Eastern Utah

A disease crept onto the court of the Hart Auditorium Thursday.

Ricks struggled to take control against Eastern Utah, as the Golden Eagles unexpectedly broke down the immune system of the Vikings, winning 86-78.

Staying neck to neck with not more than a five-point lead on both sides, the Vikes slowly lost their grip to the ball during the last five minutes of the game.

Coming into the game the Vikes were 10-3, almost equally ranked with the 10-2 Golden Eagles, which led to a close game.

At the end of the first half, Eastern Utah was in control at 40-37 making 61 percent of their shots, while Ricks was at 51 percent. But both teams were struggling to take the ball to the net.

“I think we had better defense [Saturday], making it harder for the other team to make their shots,” Nelson said.

Aaron Bowman led the Vikings with 23 points and Adam Hiatt followed with 17 points.

The second half proved who would stay in control. Tyler May sank in two at14:30 to gain Ricks’ first lead since the start of the game. But the Eagles came back to challenge the Vikings and prevailed in the end.

Ricks will travel to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to play North Idaho College January 11,at 8:30 p.m.

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