CALDWELL, Idaho — On Monday night, the College of Idaho men's basketball team completed the sweep of the Cascade Conference schedule with an 87-56 win over Eastern Oregon. After going a perfect 22-0 in the regular season conference schedule, the Yotes won all three of their tournament games.
"I tell our team all the time, we are not invincible, but we are unstoppable if we play the game the right way," said head coach Colby Blaine.
The team certainly played the right way on Monday. The game wasn't much of a dramatic showdown for the title, it looked like almost every other win the Yotes had racked up in their 30-game win streak this season. The production came from everywhere, with nine players getting double-digit minutes. Big man Paul Wilson had an efficient game, scoring 12 points on six shots in only 13 minutes.
Eastern Oregon held on a little in the second half, but as the time came off the clock, the Yotes' lead grew larger. Johnny Radford had four three-point field goals in the second half, including three in a two and a half minutes stretch. Each of those felt like the dagger of the game.
“That’s what he does," said Blaine about Radford. "Big shot Johnny right? And he’s got a unique way of scoring it. He’s a crowd-pleaser, and we just try to get him the ball, get him space, and let him do his thing. And we tell him all the time if you shoot and miss we’re gonna try to get that offensive rebound anyway. If he doesn’t shoot it we can't rebound. So he has a ton of confidence and he should, he’s shooting it really well.”
At the end of the night, the Yotes were presented with both the tournament and regular season trophies. They also got to climb the ladder and cut down the nets, something that they don't want to miss out on doing again this season.
They host the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament on March 7th and 8th in Caldwell. The Yotes hope their play on the court and their comradery off of it will push them to more wins this post-season.
“I think we’re electric and we’re a family. Everyone loves each other on and off the court and that’s what plays into our chemistry here. That’s why we can win all these games back to back to back to back.”
