C’OEUR D’ALENE — The Peninsula College men’s basketball team was still perfect two games into the season.
The Pirates (2-0 overall) opened the North Idaho College Thanksgiving Classic with an 88-81 victory over Williston State of Williston, N.D., on Friday night.
Peninsula played Salish Kootenai College of Pablo, Mont., late Saturday night in the next round and will finish the tournament against host North Idaho College today.
The score of Saturday’s game wasn’t available by press time.
In the opening round, J.T. Terrell led the Pirates with 37 points, including 29 second-half points against Williston State.
Terrell started cold from the field, shooting 2 of 12 in the first half, before his torrid second half where he shot 10 of 14.
Williston State is the defending National Junior College Region 13 champion.
Five other Pirates contributed in the scoring column, led by reserve Curtis Stewart with 12 points and six rebounds.
Corey Clement posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Tyler Funk and Dudley Ewell both sank 10 points each while Djuan Smith contributed nine points and 10 rebounds.
All 10 healthy Pirates who made the trip played in the contest.
Peninsula raced out to an early 16-5 lead over the Titans with all five starters scoring in the opening run.
The Titans battled back twice from 13-point deficits in the first half to gain their first lead of the game, 39-38, as the halftime buzzer rang.
“It was good for us to have a team battle back against us, just to see how we would respond to adversity,” Peninsula coach Lance Von Vogt said.
The Pirates opened up the second half strong and went up 50-42 just three minutes in before extending the lead to 66-53 with 11 minutes remaining.
“Playing a very well-respected national junior college who won their region last year away from home is a great growing experience for our program,” Von Vogt said.
“We are looking to create a national buzz that we can compete with any junior college in the country regardless of affiliation.”
Williston State, undeterred, battled its way back to only a three-point deficit with 2:19 left before the Pirates pushed the lead back out to 88-78 with 35 seconds remaining on the clock.
Williston State guard Royale Jackson hit a 40-footer at the buzzer to provide the final score.