With Westwind Prep's talented trio in fine form, College of Southern Idaho men's basketball coach Steve Gosar implored his team to "play smarter, not harder."

It made all the difference as the Golden Eagles controlled the second half in a 109-95 win in their home opener as part of the Gordon Paving/Gold's Gym Invitational.

"We went from giving them easy buckets to making them score over us and through us," said Gosar, whose team moved to 3-0.

Westwind point guard Kiwi Gardner and forwards John Green and George Matthews lit it up in the fast-paced first half as the Warriors built a large lead of nine at 47-38.

"They're a talented group," said Gosar.

But the trio got little help and ran out of gas in the second half as CSI outscored the visitors 54-39 after the break.

"We just got back on defense," said guard Jerrold Brooks, who scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half to keep CSI in striking distance. Brooks said CSI's 10-man rotation "was really big" in outlasting the Warriors.

After closing to within 56-55 at halftime, CSI grabbed a 10-point lead at 77-67 and held off the visitors from there.

Sophomore guard Pierre Jackson missed his first seven shots, but ended with a game-high 22 points and nine assists in his duel with Gardner, who tallied 25 points and 15 assists, but had 12 turnovers.

Of his slow start, Jackson said "I just had to get comfortable."

He certainly looked that way in the final 20 minutes, dishing out some beautiful assists and hitting several key baskets. Sophomore post Kenny Buckner also came up big after intermission and finished with 17 points and 16 boards. CSI had six players in double figures with Mitch Bruneel coming off the bench for 15, while Gerson Santo had 11 and Fabyon Harris 10.

Green finished with 26 points and 10 boards for Westwind. Matthews hit 5 of 11 treys on his way to 21 points.

"Those guys are good. That's why I've been so worried about this game all week," said Gosar.

CSI returns to the floor tonight against the College of Central Florida.

Central Florida 86, Casper College 77, OT

Kevin Foster had 24 points and 11 rebounds as the College of Central Florida outlasted Casper (Wyo.) College 86-77 in overtime on Thursday. Foster tied the game at 71-71 with a bucket with 1.7 seconds remaining. He was fouled on the shot and missed the potential game-winning free throw, but the Patriots (4-1) quickly pulled away in overtime. Mathiang Muo added 15 points for Central Florida. Cameron Jackson paced Casper with 21 points, while Denzel Douglas chipped in 15.

No. 24 CSI 109, Westwind Prep 95

WESTWIND PREP (95)

Willis Winfield 1-4 0-0 2, George Matthews 8-18 0-0 21, John Green 12-24 1-2 26, Kiwi Gardner 9-22 6-7 25, Keanau Post 1-3 0-0 2, LaKeith Kimbrough 4-5 0-0 9, Terrence Ingram 1-4 0-0 3, Dominique Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Arnis Ligazs 3-4 1-2 7. Totals 39-84 8-11 95.

CSI (109)

Jerrold Brooks 7-16 1-1 18, Gerson Santo 4-8 3-4 11, Pierre Jackson 7-19 6-6 22, Kenny Buckner 7-13 3-7 17, Fabyon Harris 3-8 3-3 10, Issiah Grayson 0-0 0-0 0, Terrance Lafayette 3-8 0-0 8, Kevin Attila 0-0 0-0 0, Darius Smith 1-4 0-0 2, Mitch Bruneel 5-8 5-5 15, Paul Bunch 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Patton 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 40-90 21-26 109.

Halftime: Westwind Prep 56, CSI 55. 3-point goals: Westwind 9-32 (Willis 0-1, Matthews 5-11, Green 1-6, Gardner 1-8, Kimbrough 1-2, Ingram 1-3, Libazs 0-1); CSI 8-27 (Brooks 3-6, Jackson 2-10, Harris 1-2, Lafayette 2-7, Smith 0-1, Bruneel 0-1). Rebounds: Westwind 49 (Libazs 12); CSI 49 (Buckner 16). Assists: Westwind 23 (Gardner 15); CSI 28 (Jackson 9). Turnovers: Westwind 27; CSI 18. Total fouls: Westwind 21; CSI 13. Fouled out: Westwind, Matthews. Technical fouls: none.

Central Florida 86, No. 30 Casper College 77, OT

CENTRAL FLORIDA (86)

Hunter Williams 4-9 2-2 12, Mathiang Muo 3-8 6-8 15, Alhaji Fullah 3-4 1-1 7, AJ Holland 1-5 6-6 8, Kevin Foster 9-14 6-9 24, Steven Shipwash 1-1 0-0 2, Slobodan Miljanic 2-6 1-2 6, Manny Dias 3-5 1-2 7, Brian Pace 3-5 1-2 7, Jos McNally-Bibbins 1-1 1-2 3, Addison Smith 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 27-58 26-35 86.

CASPER COLLEGE (77)

Demetrius Lee 2-7 0-0 6, Brandon Walton 2-10 7-10 12, Kaylin Evans 1-5 1-2 3, Camaron Howard 4-9 0-2 8, Denzel Douglas 4-6 5-6 15, Tyler Larson 0-3 2-2 2, Sam Johnson 0-1 2-2 2, Deninson Burguillos 1-6 6-8 8, Cameron Jackson 8-17 1-2 21, Cobi Eskew 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-64 24-34 77.

Halftime: Casper 40, Central Florida 39. 3-point goals: Central Florida 6-15 (Williams 2-3, Muo 3-4, Holland 0-1, Miljanic 1-5, Pace 0-1, Smith 0-1); Casper 9-30 (Lee 2-5, Walton 1-7, Evans 0-2, Douglas 2-3, Burguillos 0-2, Jackson 4-11). Rebounds: Central Florida 47 (Foster 11); Casper 35 (Burguillos 7). Assists: Central Florida 16 (Williams 6); Casper 9 (three with 2). Turnovers: Central Florida 27; Casper 19. Total fouls: Central Florida 25; Casper 30. Fouled out: Casper, Evans, Howard. Technical fouls: none.