COEU D'ALENE/TWIN FALLS, Idaho – The Colorado Northwestern Men's Basketball team dropped two games on its trip to Idaho last weekend.
After a 2-0 start to Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) play, the Spartans suffered their first league loss on Thursday at the hands of North Idaho College by a score of 89-63. The men were halted again on Saturday at College of Southern Idaho, 72-58. Despite the losses, CNCC now stands 10-9 (2-2 SWAC) headed into the third week of conference play.
In Coeu d'Alene on Thursday, the home team limited the Spartans to 29 percent from three-point range, 39 percent from the floor and just 63 points. Individually,
Tyler Christensen was tops for CNCC in both scoring and rebounding thanks to 17 points and eight rebounds.
Donovan Maestas added 17 points as well with
Cole Johnson scoring 14.
Saturday's contest against the #24-ranked Golden Eagles saw a valiant effort from Head Coach Ben Cruickshank's squad. They held CSI 14 points under their season average of 86 points per game, but it was not enough. The visitors only scored 58 of their own despite 15 from Christensen and 13 from Johnson.
Santiago Casarin pulled down nine rebounds.
"It was a tough weekend. No doubt," stated Coach Cruickshank. "We have a lot of freshmen playing big minutes for us right now, and they are getting critical experience. That will help us down the road."
The Spartans are back on the road this week as they head to Utah for a pair of games. Thursday is a showdown with the #13-ranked Badgers of Snow College. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday features CNCC at #10 Salt Lake City Community College at 2 p.m. Fans who want to watch the games can
subscribe to the Scenic West Network video streaming platform.
Fans can keep up with CNCC men's basketball on social media at @CnccMbb on "X" (formerly Twitter), at cncc_mbb on Instagram, and on Facebook by searching "CNCC Men's Basketball."
