The Snow College men’s basketball team came back from the Christmas break and shook off the rust with a 113-75 win over Scenic West Athletic Conference newcomer Community Christian College.
“This was a good game for us to play here at home,” said Coach Rob Nielson. “We haven’t played for almost 10 days and it showed in the beginning. We gave up some easy points to start the game.”
The Saints led for much of the first half before the Badgers put the clamps on defensively and got the offense rolling. With just under eight minutes left in the first half the Badgers trailed by two 26-28, but in the next four minutes Snow outscored the Saints 17-4 and eventually built a 58-40 lead at the half.
“It took us awhile to get into our game plan,” said Nielson. “We hadn’t played since the tournament in Arizona and it showed. We need to be ready to play these next games at home and defend our homeport because we finish the season with our last six games on the road.”
Snow College was led by Hagen Wright with 27 points on 12-16 from the field. Drake Allen and Clayton Southwick each tossed in 18 points as all Badgers got into the scoring column.
“It was good to get some time for a few of the players that haven’t had game experience,” said Nielson. “I thought we got some good play from the bench and they showed they can contribute.”
Hayden Franson came off the bench to score 12 points on 6-7 from the field and the bench contributed 39 points for the Badgers. Snow College shot over 60 percent from the field for the game and held the Saints to 42 percent shooting for the game and just 38 percent in the second half.
Snow College plays five of their next six games at home and finishes on the road for their last six games of the year including three games in three nights and two cities when they play at the College of Southern Nevada and Christian Community College on Feb. 17-19.
The Badgers are at home on Thursday against the College of Southern Nevada at 7 p.m. in the Horne Activity Center.
