by CALDWELL, Idaho – A stifling College of Idaho defense held The Evergreen State College to their lowest scoring total in six seasons, as the No. 1-ranked Coyotes ran their home win streak to 13 with a 89-46 victory inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The Yotes (17-2, 6-1 CCC) sit alone atop the Cascade Conference standings with the win – a half-game clear of idle Oregon Tech. C of I won their 30th game in a row when opponents failed to score 50 points and improved to 187-12 in the last 40 years when an opponent did not reach the 60-point mark.
C of I put the game out of reach early, scoring 23 of the first 27 points – including a 16-0 run that featured consecutive Talon Pinckneysteals which turned into a Nate Bruneel 3-pointer and a Pinckney lay-up.
Dalton Groenewold canned a triple to pull the Geoducks (5-12, 1-8) within 25-11 midway through the half, but the C of I defense clamped down – holding TESC without a made field goal for a six minute stretch. Ivory Miles-Williams (Nez Perce Tribe) sparked the 14-0 Coyote run with consecutive inside baskets and his first career 3-pointer, helping the hosts take a 48-15 lead to the break.
The Yotes substituted liberally in the second half – as no player saw more than 21 minutes in the contest – but were able to grow the lead. Consecutive 3-pointers from Justin Saunders capped a 10-0 run that pushed the margin to 69-27 – with C of I extending the lead to as many as 47 points.
Miles-Williams scored a career-high 13 points for the Yotes, with Bruneel scoring 11 and both Matt Meyers and Saunders adding 10. The Yotes had a sizeable 54-31 edge in rebounds, with Connor Desaulniers scoring eight points with 10 boards and Jake Bruner adding nine rebounds. Pinckney scored eight points, with five rebounds, seven assists and three steals in just 20 minutes of playing time.
Groenewald led TESC with 10 points and 12 rebounds and Ryan Quigley added 10 points – but the Geoducks were limited to just 33-percent shooting from the field in their lowest scoring game since a 74-40 home loss to Warner Pacific on this date in 2013.
