Box Score SLCC Men's Basketball comes from behind to defeat rival NIC

No. 12 SLCC	32	42	74
No. 10 NIC	38	31	69

Salt Lake City, UT—The No. 12-ranked SLCC Men's Basketball team (24-3, 12-1 SWAC) picked up a key 74-69 Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) victory over rival No. 10-ranked North Idaho College (25-4, 12-2 SWAC) on Saturday at Bruin Arena. SLCC overcame a six point halftime deficit sparked by a half-court buzzer beating three point shot from freshman guard Gary Payton II (Las Vegas, NV) to close out the first half.

Payton II worked through recurring leg cramps to lead all scorers with 23 points and completed a double-double with 10 rebounds. Sophomore forward JuWan Buchanan (Seattle, WA) scored 14 points to go with three rebounds and sophomore guard Skyler Halford (Orem, UT) added 13 points and six rebounds in the winning effort.

The Bruins scored 11 second chance points and outscored North Idaho 14-6 in fast break opportunities. The Bruins now control their own destiny as they pursue the SWAC championship, with wins in the final two contests of the season clinching the conference regular season title. SLCC leads North Idaho by a half game in the conference standings and owns the tie breaker with a 2-1 season series lead.

Next up for Head Coach Todd Phillips and the Bruins is a road matchup with Colorado Northwestern CC (7-20, 0-12 SWAC) on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Rangley, CO.