CALDWELL, Idaho – The Bushnell men's basketball team let a golden opportunity slip away on Friday night, falling to The College of Idaho, 74-67 in Cascade Collegiate Conference action.
 
Bushnell (8-8, 5-4 CCC) led the defending NAIA National Champions by 13 points at the intermission, but the Yotes (11-6, 6-3) stormed back in the second half, starting the frame on a 25-4 run to keep the Beacons from their first win in Caldwell in a decade.
 
The Beacons played a clean game with just five turnovers, but couldn't overcome the Yotes 56% shooting in the second half, including a 6-for-10 mark from three-point range.
 
Head Coach Eddie Alexander said, "That was a very disappointing second half. We played as if we thought we won the game in the first half. We stopped trusting each other and helping each other on defense. Offensively we played as if we haven't played against man-to-man all season, after playing great offense in the first half and sharing the ball. We knew what they were going to do in switching from their zone, and we just didn't play together."
 
Bushnell was led by Kaleb Burnett, scoring 22 points as he shot 9-for-18 from the field. Squeeky Johnson set the table for the Beacons with 13 first-half points, finishing with four three pointers and 15 points. Cory Johnson added 13 points and Rylan Donovan came off the bench to post ten.
 
Rey Johnston scored a game-high 28 points for the Yotes while Dougie Peoples added 16 in the win.
 
UP NEXT: The Beacons will try to respond quickly, heading to La Grande on Saturday for a date with conference-leading Eastern Oregon University (12-5, 7-2) at 5:00 pm. The Mounties fell to to Corban on Friday night, 66-60.