Snow loses first region game to SLCC
Matt Harris
Staff writer
1-26-2017
SALT LAKE CITY—The Badger region winning streak ended last week at the hands of its rival.
Uncharacteristic struggling on the offensive end spelled doom for the Snow men’s basketball team, and they suffered their first region loss of the season to rival Salt Lake C.C., 87-79.
The Badgers could never overcome the stifling Bruins’ defense, limiting them to roughly 34 percent shooting for the game, including only 33 percent from three.
“Our offense was slowed down by a good defense,” head coach Rob Nielson said. “We missed some shots that we normally hit. When you shoot as many threes as we do, some nights, they just don’t go in.”
Salt Lake also outrebounded the Badgers 47-38 due to so many missed shots from Snow. The most telling stat of the game, however, may very well have been the deficiency of the Snow bench, which only scored eight points in the entire game. Both sophomore Nate Bruneel and reserve Romain Boxus also fouled during the game.
Freshman Zach Hunsaker and sophomore Riley Panter each scored 18 points to lead the Badgers while sophomore Blake Truman and freshman A.J. Jones each added 13.
The loss moves Salt Lake up into a tie for first place in the Scenic West Athletic Conference with Snow. Both teams are undefeated in conference play against everyone except each other.
“It has been a great start to the year, and we look forward to our next round of games with these teams,” Nielson said. “They are all very good teams and playing [them] as often as we do is a challenge. Our guys played hard and battled, and that is key. The shots will go in for us most of the time.”
The Badgers can still take pride this week in another win against fellow conference power Southern Idaho, 84-79. It is the second time that Snow has beaten CSI this season. The Badgers shot 44 percent from the field and were led by 18-point performances from both Jones and Hunsaker. Bruneel added 17, while Panter added 11. Truman had 12 rebound to go with seven points.
The Badgers are now 16-3 on the season and are ranked No. 21 nationally. They will be away from home tonight against Utah State-Eastern before returning to Ephraim to play Colorado Northwestern this Saturday at 5 p.m.
