BOISE, Idaho — The latest edition of the United Heritage Mayors' Cup series between Gem State college basketball rivals did not disappoint at the Johnson Sports Center Tuesday.
After dropping both contests to Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) last year, College of Idaho bounced back with a 70-67 win in overtime to claim game one of the 2022 series in a back-and-forth battle in Nampa.
The Yotes jumped out to an early 15-8 lead on a seven-point scoring run midway through the first half, before the Nighthawks came roaring back to tie the game with five minutes left in the first frame.
Consecutive layups from Kobe Terashima and Andrew Ferrin gave NNU a 32-31 advantage with one minute to play in the first half, before Hailey native and Wood River High graduate Johnny Radford drilled a three-point shot to go up 34-32 at halftime.
The second half saw a similar story between the two Canyon County programs, as C of I stormed out to a 49-37 lead. Back-to-back threes from Ryzin Bergersen brought NNU back within six, forcing Colby Blaine to call a timeout.
In the 211th meeting saw the rivals throw bows down the stretch, with five lead changes between the 4:12 and 2:07 marks. NNU scoring leader Tru Allen scored 10-consecutive points in the two-minute run.
A free throw by Rocky Mountain alum Straton Rogers knotted the game at 58-58 with 57 seconds to play for the Yotes, before the exciting rivalry continued with extra minutes.
NNU and C of I met at 60, 61, 63 and 65 points apiece to begin overtime, before Sophomore guard Drew Wyman and Rogers put the Yotes ahead. The sophomore guard led C of I with 18 points in 29 minutes off the bench.
Wyman added eight points to go along with six rebounds and four assists.
Despite shooting just 25% from the field, Allen scored 18 of his own for NNU Tuesday. Allen drilled eight of his 10 free throws to lead the Nighthawks in 40 minutes on the floor. Gabriel Murphy brought down an impressive 13 boards in the loss.
Radford missed a free throw with three seconds to play, but the Nighthawks were unable to capitalize, as the game concluded in favor of the Yotes 70-67.
Watch Tuesday's game from start to finish below:
The cross-county rivals meet again at the J.A. Albertson Activities Center on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7:07 p.m. MT.
Once again, KTVB Sports Director Jay Tust will be on the call with analyst and Boise State basketball great Brian King for game two of the 2022 United Heritage Mayors' Cup series. KTVB also will stream the second meeting between C of I and NNU.
Watch more Sports:
See all of our sports coverage in our YouTube playlist: