Nov. 18, 2008
Final Stats
Honolulu, HI --- It made for good TV, but it won't make for a very happy plane ride home for Idaho State, as ISU couldn't take advantage of a career-high 26 points from Amorrow Morgan or a second straight double-double by Demetrius Monroe as the host Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors took down the Bengals in overtime 67-64 after trailing for most of the game in a game that ended at 4:31 am Mountain Time in a game played at an odd hour due to ESPN.
In overtime, Idaho State led just once, when Amorrow Morgan scored at the 4:19 mark, giving ISU a 56-55 lead. Morgan was unreal in the overtime, scoring nine of ISU's 11 points. Hawai'i retook the lead for good on a Roderick Flemings basket, and they eventually pushed the lead to five with 7.4 left before Hawai'i nearly choked that away. Down five, Flemings inexplicably tried to draw a charge in the backcourt stopping the clock with 5.7 left, and Morgan hit two free throws to cut the lead to five.
ISU was whistled for a foul before the ball was ever inbounded, and when Kareem Nikoto made it 66-61 with 5.4 left, it looked over, but Hawai'i dropped everyone back, allowing ISU to roll the ball beyond half court, so when Morgan hit a long three to cut the game to 66-64 with 1.4 left, ISU needed a quick stop, and they almost got it. Hawai'i was nearing a five second count, and they inbounded it right to ISU, who would have had a free shot at the basket, but Morgan was called for a foul, giving the Warriors two shots.
Adhar Mayen missed the first and hit the second, putting Hawai'i up three with 1.4 left, and Monroe's long desperation pass to Austin Kilpatrick was just off the mark, letting Hawai'i escape.
The Bengals didn't lead until the 13:50 mark of the first half on the second of Kal Bay's two three-pointers, but he went cold after that, missing his final six shots. Still, Idaho State led from that point on, and after leading 30-26 at the break, they took their biggest lead after Morgan hit Monroe on a quick layup for a 37-30 lead, and ISU had two chances to expound on that lead, but Matt Stucki missed a straight away three and Bay turned the ball over on the next possession. Hawai'i then started to whittle the lead away, and before anyone knew it, they regained the lead at 42-41 with 9:56 left on a free throw by Brandon Adams. The score stayed that way for almost three minutes before Phillip Taylor ended ISU's 5:08 scoring drought with a tough layup, giving ISU the lead back.
That basket though was ISU's only one over a near-seven minute stretch as Hawai'i went up 48-43, their biggest lead, on a basket by Roderick Flemings, who led the Warriors (1-2) with 17. ISU answered right back, getting a pair of Morgan free throws, a Morgan soft jumper, and then a go-ahead basket by Stucki, his first and only of the game for a 49-48 lead. ISU eventually pushed that to three before Hawai'i pulled ahead with 1:31 to go on a Lasha Parghaleva three. Morgan again answered by tying the game at 53 with 1:14 left, and then ISU survived a wild final 74 seconds as Hawai'i had possession for the whole time to end the game.
Parghaleva missed a pair of threes, and when Demetrius Monroe got the rebound, ISU called timeout to set up a final play, but Monroe's inbounds pass went out-of-bounds, giving Hawai'i the ball under ISU's basket. However, they couldn't covert, sending the game to overtime. The Bengals don't get back to the mainland until Wednesday afternoon, and then have a quick turnaround to face another WAC team on the road, this time Boise State in Taco Bell Arena at 7:00 pm on Saturday.
NOTES: Both teams had 10 assists and 21 rebounds ... ISU lost for the first time in the past two years when getting a double-double (now 8-1) and when tied with one minute left (now 4-1) ... ISU is now 1-8 in overtime in the Joe O'Brien era ... ISU had 14 turnovers in the second half and overtime ... ISU shot .857 from the line ... Monroe's double-double was his fourth, and second against a Division I team.
