The College of Southern Idaho men’s basketball team took a back seat on Saturday.

While the Golden Eagles picked up their first Scenic West Athletic Conference win with an 86-69 victory over Snow College, much of the focus in CSI Gymnasium was on what the Eagles’ volleyball team was doing halfway across the country in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Asked about his team’s win, CSI head coach Steve Gosar first acknowledged the volleyball squad’s record ninth NJCAA national championship.

“That’s a fantastic accomplishment,” he said.

As for the basketball, the Eagles started slowly but forced the Badgers into 32 turnovers.

“I thought we had some great ball pressure all game long,” said Gosar.

Snow hit five 3-pointers in building a 27-23 lead, but CSI capped the half with a 26-5 to take a 49-32 lead into intermission. The Badgers never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

“We came out with very little energy,” said Gosar. … “Once we found that right lineup, I was really happy with how we settled into a rhythm and built that halftime lead.”

Snow was whistled for 32 fouls in the game and CSI went 33-for-43 from the foul line. Three Badgers had three fouls each by halftime.

CSI got a big spark from Byago Diouf, who totaled 17 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Diouf said Thursday’s SWAC loss to rival Salt Lake Community College served as motivation in Saturday’s game.

“It was bad for us,” said Diouf of the loss, “but it was also good for us for this game to motivate us.”

Antonio Owens came off the bench to hit four 3-pointers and score 16 points to go with eight boards. With Pierre Jackson out with illness and D.J. Stennis hobbled, Charles Odum played 36 minutes at the point, finishing with 13 points, five assists and four steals.

“I thought Chuck was fantastic and gave us great minutes,” said Gosar.

Carrick Felix scored 14 points, while Romario Souza added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Jordan Wood scored 17 to pace Snow, while Corbin Green scored 12 off the bench.

The CSI men host the K&T Steel Tournament this Friday and Saturday, facing Chemeketa (Ore.) Community College and Riverside (Calif.) Community College.

No. 25 CSI 86, Snow College 69

SNOW COLLEGE (69)

Jordan Wood 6-12 3-8 17, Melvin Haynes 2-7 0-0 6, Reggie Shaw 3-11 0-0 7, Renato Portugal 3-6 1-2 7, Vinicius Novaes 1-2 2-4 4, Mitch Frei 3-6 0-0 6, Souleymane Diedhiou 0-0 0-0 0, Dominique Youmans 1-3 4-4 6, Corbin Green 5-8 0-1 12, Melvin Washington 2-2 0-0 4, Justin Vorwaller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 9-13 69.

No. 25 CSI (86)

Byago Diouf 5-14 5-7 17, Carrick Felix 4-8 6-8 14, Josten Thomas 1-4 1-1 3, Romario Souza 2-5 6-6 10, Charles Odum 3-8 6-8 13, DJ Stennis 0-0 0-0 0, Keon Pledger 0-1 0-0 0, Antonio Owens 5-17 2-2 16, Brandon Givens 1-7 5-6 7, Kenny Buckner 2-3 2-5 6. Totals 23-67 33-43 86.

Halftime: CSI 49, Snow 32. 3-point goals: Snow 8-25 (Wood 3-8, Haynes 2-5, Shaw 1-7, Green 2-5); CSI 7-25 (Diouf 2-7, Felix 0-2, Thomas 0-1, Odum 1-3, Owens 4-11, Givens 0-1). Rebounds: Snow 47 (Frei 9); CSI 37 (Souza 9). Assists: Snow 18 (Shaw 5); CSI 13 (Odum 5). Turnovers: Snow 32; CSI 13. Total fouls: Snow 32; CSI 15. Fouled out: Snow, Novaes. Technical fouls: none.