KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The hot shooting of Butte's Dougie Peoples helped the College of Idaho return to the top of the NAIA.
Peoples, a Butte Central grad, scored 21 points off the bench and hit five 3-pointers as C of I broke away from Oklahoma Wesleyan for a 93-65 victory in the NAIA men's national championship game Tuesday night at Municipal Auditorium.
The 6-foot-4 sophomore guard scored 17 of those points with all five of his 3s in just eight minutes of playing time in the first half, allowing the Yotes to turn a tie game into a rout.
Peoples is one of four Treasure State products to win the championship with C of I. The others are seniors Drew Wyman of Great Falls High and Caden Handran of Scobey, and junior Alex Germer of Missoula Sentinel. It is the second title for both Wyman and Handran.
The Yotes, the No. 1 seed from the tournament's Naismith quadrant, finished the season with a 35-2 record. It marks their second title in the past three seasons under coach Colby Blaine. Oklahoma Wesleyan, the No. 7 seed from the Liston quadrant, finished the season 28-8.
Peoples made three consecutive 3s in a 1:07 stretch in the first half as the Yotes went from being tied 15-15 to leading 25-17 at the 12:23 mark. C of I made 11 of 17 first-half 3-pointers.
Peoples' fifth 3 of the half put College of Idaho ahead 47-27 with 2:01 on the clock. He shot 6 of 9 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes as the Yotes led 49-29 at the break. He finished 8-for-14 shooting, including 5 for 7 from the arc, in 15 minutes on the court.
Wyman added three points, five rebounds and two steals, while Handran had two points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Germer finished with one rebound and did not score.
College of Idaho shot 55.7% from the floor (34 for 61) and made 16 of 30 3-point tries. Samaje Morgan led the Yotes with 28 points.
