Feb. 22, 2003
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Pocatello, ID --- Scott Henry scored a career-high 26 points and Jeremy Brown added 24 as the Bengals clinched their second postseason berth in the last three years with a 90-83 win over Sacramento State. The win came on senior night for Idaho State.
Idaho State used a late 10-4 run to take a 44-40 halftime lead, and ISU never trailed after that. The game stayed fairly close, with back-to-back layups by Sacramento's Jimmy White closing the game to 60-59 with 12:13 left. From there, ISU went on an 23-9 run, keyed by nine straight points from Scott Henry, and ISU led 83-68 with 4:05 left.
The Hornets weren't done though, outscoring ISU 15-5 to cut it to 88-83 with 34.6 left after three three-pointers, two by Brandon Guyton. Danny Boticki, who was 7-for-7 from the line, made two late free throws to close out the scoring.
The Bengal win coupled with Weber State's win over Northern Arizona clinched a playoff berth for ISU, and also gave Weber State the right to host the tournament. Idaho State is now tied for third with Montana at 6-6, although Montana owns the tiebreaker against the Bengals. An ISU win and a Montana State loss anywhere along the line next week guarantees ISU a home game on Saturday, March 8 in the Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal round.
Along with Henry's 26 and Brown's 24, Rashad Kirkland added 10 points. Two other Bengals, Boticki and Marquis Poole, had nine points each. Poole also added a career-high eight rebounds and seven assists. The Bengals shot .875 from the free throw line.
