Feb. 27, 2003
Box Score
Portland, OR --- Portland State went to the line often, and made the Bengals pay. The Vikings went 31-for-36 from the line, an .861 clip, and ISU was just 1-for-14 from three-point range as Portland State pulled away late for a 77-69 win.
The loss was tempered by the news that Montana defeated Sacramento State about three minutes prior to the end of ISU's game, guaranteeing Idaho State a home game in the first round of the conference tournament. The Bengal loss makes Idaho State the #4 seed and Montana the #3, no matter what happens on Saturday night when ISU travels to Eastern Washington.
The Bengals lost for the third time this year when leading at the half, including their second straight time on the road. The Bengals trailed 18-11 in the first half, but held PSU without a field goal for 9:03 of the first half and took as much as a four point lead at 23-19. After PSU took a lead with two late free throws, Jeremy Brown's putback at the buzzer gave ISU a 28-27 lead.
Idaho State pushed the advantage to 32-27, their largest of the game. PSU fought back and tied it at 33, and the game see-sawed back-and-forth after that until the Vikings took the lead for good with a pair of free throws at the 9:14 mark at 49-48.
Idaho State got within one at 60-59 after a Marquis Poole layup, but ISU's struggles beyond the mark killed any comeback chances. The only Bengal three of the night was by Danny Boticki, who hit with 52 seconds left to make it a four point game at 69-65. Portland State hit 10-of-12 from the line in the last minute to seal the win.
The Bengals will open the conference tournament against either Montana State, Northern Arizona, or Sacramento State on Saturday, March 8 at 5:05 pm, and ISU's regularly scheduled women's game that night against Weber State has been pushed back to 7:35 pm.
