Jan. 5, 2007
Final Stats
Ogden, UT --- John Ofoegbu scored 16 points, none bigger than a layup with 3:20 left to give ISU the lead they would never relinquish, and Nicholas Rhodes grabbed a key offensive rebound late as the Bengals picked up a huge season-opening road win 58-55, giving head coach Joe O'Brien a win in his Big Sky debut, the first time a Bengal coach did that since Lynn Archibald in 1978.
Idaho State (6-8, 1-0) survived a Dezmon Harris missed three to tie with seconds to go, and then Harris's desperation attempt on an inbounds pass with 0.3 wasn't even close, sealing the deal for Idaho State. Weber State (9-7, 2-1) needed a three due to the hustle of Rhodes, who corralled a missed shot by Akbar Abdul-Ahad with 18 seconds left and dished it quickly to David Schroeder, who was fouled and calmly sank both free throws to make it 58-55.
The Bengals saw themselves down 46-39 at the 11:50 mark after a Juan Pablo Silveira three, their largest deficit of the game, but David Schroeder answered with a three of his own just 31 seconds later to move it back to four. The Bengals clawed back to within one at 51-50 on a Logan Kinghorn free throw with 5:45 left, and they took the lead when Nick Rhodes hit a 10-footer in the lane with 4:57 left.
Weber State hit two free throws, but John Ofoegbu, who led ISU with 16 points, took the lead for good when he nailed a soft hook shot for a 54-53 lead with 3:20 left. Silveira missed back-to-back threes, and Abdul-Ahad's jumper with 1:58 left made it 56-53 Bengals. Harris scored on a driving layup with 48.6 left, setting up the final heroics by Rhodes and Schroeder.
Along with Ofoegbu's 16, Schroeder added 13 and Akbar Abdul-Ahad scored 10. Nicholas Rhodes had a career-high 11 rebounds as Idaho State outrebounded Weber State 35-27. Tyler Billings led the Wildcats with 15 points off the bench, and Dezmon Harris added 10. ISU held leading scorer and reigning Player of the Week David Patten to eight points and eight rebounds.
Weber State was hurt at the line, going just 7-for-13, including an 0-for-5 night from Patten. Idaho State shot .500, and WSU just .377, and only .267 from three-point range.
The Bengals picked up their first road win in nine tries this season, and the win puts Idaho State alone in first place as the league's only undefeated team, albeit at 1-0. The Bengals will now look for their first conference road sweep since 2001 when they travel to Sacramento State for an 8:05 Mountain Time tip-off on Saturday at Hornet Gym.
NOTES: Idaho State was just 2-14 in their last 16 Big Sky road games entering the Weber State contest ... ISU's bench was outscored 17-7 ... the Bengals held Weber State to just 19 second half points.
