Bison put up 121 points, get win

Jenna Cederberg

PABLO — Dane Fisher broke out for 30 points last Friday, giving his Salish Kootenai College men's basketball team its first victory of the season.

The Bison, playing on their home court for the first time this season, exploded on offense and beat the University of Montana-Western JV team 121-111.

"(Dane's) a great shooter and everyone just started finding him in the right spot and he started getting into the right spot," men's head coach Zach Camel said.

Six players scored in double digits, including 16 from Chris Jones and 10 from John Young and Cotye Reuben. Only two players didn't get points on the board.

The Bulldogs had an early lead and the Bison had six fouls with 13 minutes to go in the first half. Then, guard John Young reached inside for a rebound and put the ball in for two after a foul. The three-point play put the Bison up 31-27, a lead the team maintained for most of the rest of the game. Young also sparked the team defensively.

"John did a good job on defense, he set the tone for us when we had to press, things worked out great when he was out there," Camel said.

Bison inside man Sonny Eppinette had 15 points on Friday, and came out strong the entire weekend.

"Right off the bat he established an inside game, (he) just had to be ready to catch and shoot," Camel said. Eppinette's presence in the front court helped open up the outside shooters for good shots. He and Fisher were two of the players that started to really define their roles this weekend and that's exactly what the team needs to do to keep improving, Camel said.

The "electric" home crowd also helped the team keep up the energy, Camel said.

Saturday afternoon was a closer game. Fisher again was the Bison's leading scorer, with 17, but the Bulldogs managed the 93-89 win.

"We went left when they should have went right. We didn't have focus either," Camel said.

Tim Wolf had 16 points and Young was again a force with 13 points.

Jones got into foul trouble and the some of the team's intensity was down. Western answered Friday's game with five of its players scoring in double digits on Saturday.

In the end, the second game came down to the teams' play late in the second half, "we made two bad plays and they made two good plays," Camel said.

Eppinette had 14 inside and stayed out of foul trouble, again making him a strength for the team. Maintaining this rhythm will be important for the team this week, as it faces North Idaho College in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. NIC has several seven-footers, Camel said, and is as athletic a team as the Bison will meet.

The team has been working hard in the weight room to gain strength, and will continue to work on the three Ss: size, strength and speed.

"I want to develop those three Ss," Camel said. "When the size isn't all there, we've got to be extra fast and extra strong."