IT'S OFFICIAL: MEN'S BASKETBALL
WINS THE CONFERENCE!
by Tyler Hughes

First Conference Title Since 1999

The Snow College men’s basketball team (23-7 overall, 15-5 conference) has clinched their first conference title since the 1999-2000 season with a pair of victories over Colorado Northwestern. With the two wins, Snow College will host the Scenic West Athletic Conference tournament for both the men’s and women’s teams.

Listed below are the summaries for each game:

GAME 1

A challenge for any team is overlooking one opponent while thinking ahead to the next. The Badgers knew with two wins that they would host the conference tournament which would enable them a great opportunity to enter the national tournament. Snow was up to the challenge while routing Colorado Northwestern 116-61 in game 1 on Friday night.

Snow completely dominated the action for the entire game. The Badgers were once again able to get their day started with great play at the defensive end of the floor. The Spartans were only able to shoot 28% from the field for the game.

Tough interior defense by Snow College forced Colorado Northwestern to work from the perimeter for the most part of the game, which did not give them a chance to get to the free throw line. In fact, the Spartans shot only 8 free throws for the entire game compared to Snow College who shot 32 while connecting on 25, which was good for a solid 78% on the night.

The Badgers had five players score in double figures. Leading the way was Geoff Payne with 23. Payne has led the Badgers in scoring in 23 of 30 games this season and is 2nd in the conference in scoring at 22.1 points per game.

Cris Hoopes and John Clifford both tallied 16 for Snow College. Tanner Lamb dropped 14 for Snow College and Mark Mulford was 3-5 on 3-point attempts which helped push his scoring total to 13 on the night.

Jake Peterson and Heath Gameron shared the point guard duties for the night had 7 and 6 assists respectively.

GAME 2

Snow’s final regular season game was Saturday night and they proved they will be tournament ready while handling Colorado Northwestern for the second night in a row. The final score 130-74, gave Snow College their highest scoring output for the season.

Anytime a team scores 130 points their offense had to have been really clicking, obviously. Snow’s attack was not only clicking, but it was absolutely blistering. Snow shot 67% from the field in the rout, but perhaps more impressive than that was their 3-point shooting. Snow was 13-for-25 on the night while shooting 56% from beyond the arc.

Mark Mulford was the Badgers top 3-point man on Saturday night. Mulford was able to connect on five 3-pointers while tallying 21 points on the night.

Tyler Quinney added 19 points and 6 rebounds for Snow College. Tanner Lamb was able to contribute 15 before fouling out.

Jake Peterson and Heath Gameron led the way again in the assists column with each player compiling 7 for the night.

Geoff Payne, however, led the scoring for Snow College yet again. He was nearly perfect from the field while shooting 11-12 on the night. He finished the night with 22 points and he also had a team-high 7 rebounds.

Snow’s next game will come Friday, March 9th at 7:30 PM. The opponent is yet to be determined as the Snow College will wait and see who wins a first round tournament game between Salt Lake Community College and Colorado Northwestern. For a complete tournament breakdown Click Here