Box Score TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (January 10, 2019) - The Scenic West Athletic Conference will always be fraught with difficulty and intriguing matchups.

Take Thursday's matchup between the No. 9 Salt Lake Community College men's basketball team and Colorado Northwestern Community College. On paper, the Bruins held a strong advantage over the hosting Spartans, with SLCC boasting a strong preseason record against a nationally-competitive schedule. However, the SWAC proved true to its reputation, with the Bruins earning a 95-88 overtime victory over CNCC. The win lifted SLCC's overall record to 15-3 and 2-0 in league play.

"Our guys stayed together," said Salt Lake coach Todd Phillips. "We were down and stayed together to come back."

Salt Lake did not start well, referenced by their trailing by 20 points in the first half. SLCC shot just 33.3 percent from the field in the opening period (13-of-39), surrendering a 19-of-33 performance to CNCC. However, a halftime pep talk from Phillips breathed new life into Salt Lake, with the Bruins outscoring CNCC 50-32 in the second half to send the game to overtime.

In the overtime period, the Bruins locked in defensively and held Colorado Northwestern to just one made basket. Salt Lake also capitalized at the free-throw line, finishing with a 5-of-6 performance in extra time to ice the victory.

SLCC's Josh Colon had another outstanding performance in blue, finishing with 30 points on 14-of-16 shooting at the free-throw line. Matt Lindsey made a big impact in reserve minutes, scoring 18 points in 28 minutes. Washington State commit Daron Henson and Tyler Bennett also had 10 points apiece for Salt Lake. 

Salt Lake will host in-state rival Snow College on Saturday in a critical SWAC game. The game, which will serve as Salt Lake's league home-opener, will start at 5:00 p.m. inside the Lifetime Activities Center.