Dec. 27, 2002
Box Score
Logan, UT---Scott Henry did what he does best, record another double-double, and David Schroeder added 16 points as the Bengals disposed of their fifth straight opponent with a 75-61 victory over the UMKC (Missouri-Kansas City) Kangaroos in the opening round of the Gossner Foods Classic, hosted by Utah State University.
The Bengals advanced to their second straight Gossner title game, where they will play either host Utah State or the Arkansas State Indians on Saturday night at 8:05 pm.
Along with Henry and Schroeder, the Bengals got solid performances from Jeremy Brown and Danny Boticki as well. Boticki scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, all from beyond the three-point line, and Brown nearly had a triple-double with nine points, nine rebounds, and a career-high tying six assists.
The Bengals were never threatened in the second half, as the lead never dipped into single digits. Idaho State led by as much as 20 at 74-54 at the 3:10 mark.
The Bengals also did a solid job defensively, holding the nation's leading scorer in Division I Michael Watson to a season-low 22 points. Watson, who came in averaging 29.4, was just 9-of-31 from the field, including 4-of-17 from three-point range.
"I'm pleased with the progress of our guys at this point," said head coach Doug Oliver. "We dropped into a zone which I think disrupted their offense a bit. Watson missed a couple of open shots but made some tough shots."
"Right now we just have to concentrate on playing good basketball tomorrow night against either Utah State or Arkansas State."
The Bengals found themselves down early 7-2 and then 12-8 at he 14:45 mark before exploding for a 15-0 run to give ISU the lead at 23-12 before a Brandon Lipsey follow ended the run. That came at the 9:23 mark of the half.
David Schroeder, who had 11 points at the half, showed off an array of shots, going high off the glass for two, a pump-fake one dribble jumper from 17, and a long three from the corner among them. He scored points during the run, and Scott Henry added six.
The Bengals led by as much as 12, 36-24 before UMKC chipped away late in the half, scoring seven straight to take cut the lead to 36-31 before Danny Boticki's long straight away three with 8.2 left gave ISU a 39-31 halftime lead.
