Men's Basketball- Everett 110, North Idaho 112 2OT

Written by NWAC: In the final matchup of the NWAC Elite 8, the #3 seed from the East Region, the Cardinals from North Idaho College took on the #1 seed from the North Region and #1 in the conference, the Everett Community College Trojans.  This was the third time the played this year with each team winning the game on their home floor.  In a classic "War on the Floor", the North Idaho Cardinals defeated the Trojans in a double overtime thriller 112-110.  Both teams scored more combined points in the two overtimes (78 points -10 minutes) than they did in the first half. Both teams came out flying as the  Cardinals went on a run to take a 20-14 lead at the 8:00 mark.   Aushanti Potts-Woods 9 points (3-3 point baskets), led the charge as well as the Cardinals tough pressure defense.  The Cardinals pushed the lead to 43-36 as the first half came to a close. Both team played tough defense, but it was the Cardinals defense that held the Trojans to 25% shooing from the floor.  The rebounding edge went to the Cardinals as well as they snared 25 in the first half. The Cardinals increased the lead in the second half to 12 at 58-46.  The Trojans responded with a 15-2 run to take the lead to 61-60 at the 4:54 mark.  It was their first lead of the game. Cardinals RayQuan Evans hit a bucket to stop the run to put NIC up by 1. The teams traded the lead multiple times during the last 3 minutes of play.  Trojan Connor Moffatt hit a 3 point bucket at the 1;29 mark to put Everett up 67-65.  Everett had the opportunity to put the game away but missed free throws and with 7 seconds left turned the ball over on the inbounds and the Cardinals scored to tie it up to go into overtime. NIC hit their first 4 shots in the overtime to take a 7 point lead, but the Trojans hit big shots as the Cardinals returned the favor by missing two free throws.  Gio Jackson took the ball to the hoop and scored the tying bucket with .3 left on the clock to send the game into double overtime. The second overtime started just the like the first one with the Cardinals hitting their first two shots only to see the Trojans take the lead on basket by Gio Jackson at the 2:15 of the second overtime. Again, RayQuan Evans hit two 3-pointers in a row to give the Cardinals  a 104-101 lead with :56 seconds left in the 2nd overtime.  The Trojans never got closer than three the rest of the way as the Cardinals finished off the Trojans 112-110 in double overtime. In an incredible effort for the Cardinals, RayQuan Evans scored 47 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists.  Aushanti Potts-Woods  had 25 points on 9-13 shooting and the team shot 49.4% for the game. Tyler Brimhall contributed 14 points along with 12 rebounds, and Jalen Burkett chipped in with 12 points. The Trojans were led by Gio Jackson who played all 50 minutes, scored 35 points, 11 rebounds, along with 4 assists.  Connor Moffatt had 21 points, Cameron Plautz 20 points, and Markieth Brown Jr. finished with 14 points.  Trojans were held to 40% shooting for the game. The North Idaho College Cardinals move on to Final Four to play the Portland Community College Panthers at 4pm on Saturday 3/17, at the Walt Price Fitness Center.