Campbell helps Cardinal men hold off Casper

CASPER, Wyo. — At first, points came easy for North Idaho College.

Then, they didn't.

Cobi Campbell, a sophomore guard from Puyallup, Wash., who has signed with Troy University, had 17 points and nine rebounds for North Idaho College in an 82-79 win over the Casper Thunderbirds in the opening night of the Casper College Thanksgiving Classic on Friday.

Campbell made a pair of free throws with 8.2 seconds left to extend the Cardinal lead to 82-79 and Casper missed a tying 3-pointer at the buzzer. NIC led by as much as 26 in the first half before Casper mounted a comeback.

"I'm proud of the guys," NIC coach Corey Symons said. "We just competed. They're a good team, but I was impressed with our guys. We got a bit of a lead, then let them back into it, but got it done."

Vaughn Weems, a freshman from Federal Way, Wash., had 16 points and nine rebounds for NIC (4-2), which outrebounded Casper 41-35.

Kyle Karstetter, a sophomore forward from Moses Lake, had 13 points for NIC (4-2), which faces Western Wyoming today at 1 p.m. PST at Casper College.

Abdul Bashir scored 19 points for Casper (4-5).

NORTH IDAHO

Vaughn Weems 7-12 2-2 16, Cobi Campbell 5-12 4-4 17, Kyle Karstetter 5-9 0-0 13, Tayshawn Colvin 5-7 0-1 10, Dane Odsather 0-0 0-0 0, Terin Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Austin Johnson 1-2 0-1 2, D'Andre Clermont 0-0 0-0 0, Dante Sawyer 5-12 3-5 13, Jalen Skalskiy 4-9 1-1 10, Tanner Tollestrup 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 32-65 11-18 82.

CASPER

Malyk Rebetz 6-10 2-6 16, Darius Robinson 2-9 0-0 6, Abdul Bashir 8-12 1-1 19, Josh Ijeh 4-6 3-4 11, Nate Sasser 5-14 4-5 11, Jimma James 1-3 1-4 6, Kuon Kuon 2-3 1-2 7, Nathanial Talich 1-3 1-6 3, Andrija Maric 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-62 14-31 79.

Halftime — NIC 42-41. 3-point goals — NIC 7-23 (Weems 0-2, Campbell 3-9, Karstetter 3-5, Colvin 0-1, Sawyer 0-2, Skalskiy 1-4), Casp 7-16 (Rebetez 2-4, Robinson 2-4, Bashir 2-4, James 0-1, Kuon 1-1, Talich 0-2). Rebounds — NIC 41 (Weems, Campbell 9), Casp 35 (Sasser 6). Assists — NIC 5 (Sawyer 2), Casp 14 (Rebetez 6). Team fouls — NIC 21, Casp 20. Fouled out — none.

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