The 11th ranked Snow College men’s basketball team made short work of the visiting Colorado Northwestern Spartans in the first Scenic West Athletic Conference game of the 2021-22 season.
The Badgers came out hitting their shots and playing smothering defense on their way to a 23-3 lead and a 101-63 win.
Snow College finished the pre-season with a 7-1 record and faced the Spartans, who played the night before in Casper, Wyo.
“I think our defense played a big part in the quick lead,” said Coach Rob Nielson. “They were short-handed with some injuries and some players left behind, but I like our defensive effort. We held them and got some turnovers that gave us some quick points.”
The Badgers finished the game with 22 fast break points and 52 points in the paint. Chase Potter shot a blistering 7-8 from the field including 3-3 from behind the 3-point line and 2-2 from the free-throw line.
Drake Allen was perfect from the field 6-6 with one 3-pointer and 13 points and six assists. Hagen Wright provided a spark off the bench scoring 18 points and pulling in six rebounds. Clayton Southwick added 10 for the Badger win.
Saturday the Badgers faced off against the 13th ranked Golden Eagles of the College of Southern Idaho. Snow College fell behind early and trailed by eleven at the half and lost 84-74 to even their conference record to 1-1.
The Badgers battled back to cut the deficit to six points with four minutes left in the game, but were unable to get any closer.
“This is a tough conference from top to bottom,” said Nielson. “I think that’s evident with the scores and the records early in the season. There are any number of teams that can win and we have to play our best, night in and night out.”
Potter again led the Badgers in scoring with 21 points, Allen had a near triple double 19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals and Wyatt Lowell led the team with nine rebounds and also added 14 points. The Badgers only hit on three of their 19 tries from behind the 3-point line.
“We’ve got to do a much better job hitting our threes,” said Nielson. “We need to make sure the threes are coming within the offense and have the confidence to keep shooting.”
Snow College is now 8-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The Badgers are back home again on Thursday to face undefeated Utah State Eastern at the Horne Activity Center at 7 p.m.
