Men tied for second place in conference with recent wins
Two wins last week for the Snow College Badgers have put them back into a tie with the College of Southern Idaho for second place in the Scenic West Athletic Conference. The Badgers won their third straight over USU-Eastern, 86-68, and then Saturday dispatched the Coyotes of the College of Southern Nevada, 89-74.
The Eagles of USU-E came to Ephraim missing their top two scorers and turned the game into a brawl that saw five players foul out of the game and a total of 51 fouls called. But the Badgers were able to lead from start to finish on their way to the win.
“It was a battle, but it always is when these two teams meet,” said Head Coach Rob Nielson. “We had some foul trouble, and we needed some other players to step up and give good minutes. I think we got that from Hayden Franson and Rich Stucki tonight.”
Hagen Wright finished as the top scorer with 24 points, and Wyatt Lowell had 20 points and six rebounds. Stucki and Franson each came off the bench with 8 points and Braydon Roberts led the team with seven rebounds.
The Badger bench added 19 points as Snow College built a lead of 25 and held on for the win.
Snow College again led from start to finish as they jumped out to the early lead and then held off rallies by the Coyotes on their way to the 89-74 win on Saturday.
“It was important that we started well,” said Nielson.
“They got some confidence with the second half in our previous matchup, and I thought it was important that we started strong and got some good looks early.”
Lowell hit two early three-pointers to spark the Badgers’ early run. Drake Allen led the Badgers with a double-double 18 points and 12 assists and just missed a triple double with eight rebounds. Lowell finished with 16 points, Chase Potter added 15, Wright chipped in 11, and Franson came off the bench to contribute 10 points in the Badger win.
“I like the energy of our bench,” said Nielson. “Our bench is going to be more and more important for us if we want to make a run at the end of the season and going into the playoffs.”
Snow College got 21 points from their bench while shooting over 50% from the field and 46% from beyond the three-point arc.
The Badgers will have their final home game on Thursday when they host Colorado Northwestern at 7 p.m. in the Horne Activity Center on the Snow College campus. After that, Snow College will be on the road for the final six games of the regular season.
