Before they were rivals, NNU coach and C of I point guard shared historic prep season

At almost any other time, a Talon Pinckney 3-pointer would have given Paul Rush a reason to celebrate.

Tuesday was not one of those times.

Pinckney made the go-ahead triple with 39 seconds left as the College of Idaho edged Northwest Nazarene 86-82 in a double overtime men’s basketball game at the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.

The second round of the United Heritage Mayors’ Cup is Tuesday, Nov. 20, at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa. Tipoff is 7:07 p.m.

“He’s a kid that’s got a special place in my heart,” said Rush, who is in his second season as NNU’s head coach. “I really care about the kid, and I’m excited to see him do well in every other game but next Tuesday.”

Before they joined rival Canyon County colleges, Pinckney and Rush were player and coach for the same team.

Pinckney played point guard for Rush at Capital High in Boise for two years, including a 2013-14 season that saw the Eagles go 26-0 and win the 5A state championship. They remain one of only four teams in the 60-year history of the 5A Southern Idaho Conference to go undefeated and win state.

Rush and Pinckney then teamed up for a third-place trophy in 2014-15 with the help of current Yotes sophomore Justin Saunders.

The following season, Rush took an assistant job at NNU, and Pinckney transferred to Centennial for his senior year.

Studying game film in preparation for the two-game Mayors’ Cup brought back a bit of nostalgia for Rush, who says he found himself rooting for his former players and marveling at their improvements.

“I’m so proud of both those guys. Both of them had weaknesses coming out of high school that they’ve turned into strengths,” Rush said. “I think that game-planning wise some of the stuff you knew about them in high school you kind of have to throw out the window, because it’s been a couple years, and those guys have hammered away at their craft just working to get better.”

Pinckney finished with 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals against his former coach. He was one of five Yotes to score in double digits, led by Rocky Mountain High alum Nate Bruneel with 18.

“It’s a little funny (to play against Rush), but at the end of the day it’s a rivalry,” Pinckney said. “I’ve just got to come out and compete.”

The Yotes hit seven of their nine 3-pointers in the first half, building as much as a 19-point lead with 11:11 to go before halftime. The teams reversed roles in the second half, with the Nighthawks outscoring the Yotes 41-25.

“I think it was great that they showed up and battled in the second half,” Rush said. “It’s easy in that environment to fold the tents up and go away.”

NNU junior Adonis Arms made two free throws with 30 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 67-67 and force overtime. Arms also scored the tying points to extend the game to a second overtime, this time converting on a three-point play with 43.4 seconds on the clock to make it 78-78. Arms finished with a game-leading 28 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

But it was Pinckney who came through with the heroics in the final overtime, breaking an 81-81 tie with his second 3-pointer of the game.

“I took the shot. It went in, but it wasn’t really like a sigh of relief because at that point everything that could have gone wrong I guess you could say went wrong,” Pinckney said. “We kept getting into overtime, so I was just focused on getting a stop. I didn’t really realize or think it was a big shot until the end when everyone was telling me, but it felt good to get a bucket.”

Tuesday’s game was the 205th meeting of Idaho’s oldest college basketball rivalry, but it was only the third time in the history of the series that the game went to double overtime. The two Canyon County schools started playing each other in 1933.

Note: Northwest Nazarene (1-0), an NCAA Division II program, played Tuesday’s game as an exhibition, while the NAIA Yotes (7-0) counted the game toward their official record. Next week’s game will count for both squads.

This story was originally published November 13, 2018 at 10:09 PM.