Dec. 31, 2009
Final Stats
Complete Stat Packet: Idaho State 67, Montana 65 
Pocatello, ID --- Austin Kilpatrick rebounded a blocked shot and drained a 16-footer from the right wing at the buzzer to give Idaho State a wild 67-65 victory over the visiting Montana Grizzlies in a game where Amorrow Morgan scored a career-high 32 points to get within a whisker of 1,000 career points.
The game ironically ended the calendar year the exact same way it started: with a buzzer beater home win for ISU, as Deividas Busma hit a putback at the buzzer to down Northern Colorado on January 1, 365 days ago.
It was Morgan who kept ISU in it throughout, as he went 12-for-17 from the field in scoring a career-high 32 points, giving him 997 career points. Perhaps the biggest run for Idaho State happened near the end of the first half in which ISU was down 35-25 with under a minute and a half to go, but ISU scored six points in the final 50 seconds, the final four on a wild scramble in which Amorrow Morgan hit a driving layup with eight seconds left, and then after Broderick Gilchrest stole the inbounds pass and missed a short shot, Morgan tipped it in just before the buzzer to make it 35-32 at the break.
Kilpatrick's buzzer beater the culmination of a wild final minute in which Kilpatrick scored all four of ISU's points in the final minute. First with ISU up one at 63-62, Kilpatrick crashed the offensive glass and tipped in a Gilchrest missed layup to make it a 65-62 game. ISU then forced a miss, and Gilchrest was fouled, but he missed both free throws.
That gave Montana a chance, and Will Cherry drove the lane and hit a layup and was fouled by Gilchrest, and the free throw tied it up with 28.6 to go. After a timeout with 15.3 left, Morgan took the ball and drove to the free throw line, where his shot was off the mark, but Demetrius Monroe got the rebound, but his putback was swatted away by Brian Qvale, but it bounded near Kilpatrick, who picked it up on the run off to the right, and swishes in the winner to end it, much to his own surprise.
"I honestly thought it was an airball," said Kilpatrick. "I must have had some adrenaline though because it got there, and once it made it there I looked up and I was surrounded by my teammates."
The Bengals were down five with five to go at 57-52, but the Bengals got back-to-back layups by Gilchrest and Morgan to cut it to one, and after a Cherry free throw, Morgan tied it with two freebies of his own to make it all square at 58. Qvale tipped in his own miss, but Kilpatrick responded with his only three of the game to give ISU a 62-61 lead. The teams then traded baskets, setting up the frantic final minute.
"I thought defensively we were really good. They shot the ball well, but we outrebounded them, and we held them to 65 points, which is a little more than we wanted, but it was enough," said head coach Joe O'Brien. "I like the way we are playing right now."
For Idaho State, along with Morgan's 32, Gilchrest and Monroe each had 10, and Kilpatrick added a big nine. For Montana, Anthony Johnson scored 15, Ryan Staudacher had 12 on four early first half threes, Jack McGillis added 12, and Will Cherry chipped in 10. ISU outrebounded Montana 30-29, and committed a season-low eight turnovers. ISU shot .509 from the field while holding Montana to just .408, although the Griz canned 11-of-25 threes.
The Bengals now get two days off before taking on Montana on Sunday afternoon at 2:05 pm in the Altitude Game of the Week. Montana State suffered their first conference loss of the season, losing to Weber State 75-62 on Saturday afternoon.
NOTES: Monroe just missed his second straight double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds ... Kilpatrick had three assists for the second straight game ... ISU was just 9-of-18 from the line ... ISU had four starters play at least 33 minutes ... ISU outscored Montana in the paint 34-14, and 12-8 off turnovers.
