TWIN FALLS, Idaho — On Thursday night, the No.20 ranked CSI Golden Eagles will play host to the No.1 team in the nation, Snow College.
"When the fans show up, it's going to be electric on Thursday," said CSI Head Coach Jeff Reinert.
Sitting at 18-4, the No. 20 CSI Golden Eagles have played great basketball this year, sitting just behind No.1 Snow College for the top spot in the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC).
Earlier this month CSI took their biggest loss of the season when they traveled to Snow, being blown out by the Badgers 110 to 82.
Now the Golden Eagles look to settle the score in Twin Falls.
"Well, we're not going to turn it over 22 times, I think that's the number one thing," said Reinert. “We just had a bad game at the wrong time, and they just played great. I don’t think that’s indicative of either one of us; I don’t think they're going to shoot it that good and I don’t think we're going to turn it over."
Since that loss to Snow, CSI has picked up huge road wins at Salt Lake and Colorado Northwestern.
"That win at Salt Lake was huge, even the one at CNCC where we won in double overtime; these guys have a tendency to just keep competing and winning," said Reinert.
Freshman Forward Nathan Ahner says the loss to Snow two weeks ago still hits hard.
"Nobody that is competitive would like to lose by that number of points,” said Nathan Ahner. “So, we just keep reminding ourselves at practice that we need to go hard and remember what happened. So, we just embrace the struggle we had and prepare better for them now."
Ahner knows Thursday's rematch at home will be different.
"At home playing against the No.1 team, I just know the fans are going to show out. It's just a great experience; it's a great atmosphere and I know Snow is a great team,” added Ahner.
CSI Athletic Director, Daequon Montreal says games like these between two JUCO powerhouse programs is what CSI basketball is all about.
"You pack this place out; there's not an atmosphere like this in the junior college level in the country,” said Montreal. “If you talk to any one of our players that have played in front of a crowd like this, speaking as a former player, it's something you don't take for granted and hopefully our fans turn up on Thursday for a good show."
The Lady Golden Eagles will kick off the night, taking on Snow at 5 p.m. Then the men will play, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
Tickets are available at the door and officials expect them to go fast.
