Feb. 14, 2009
Final Stats
Printable Statbook: Idaho State vs. Eastern Washington 
Pocatello, ID --- Amorrow Morgan scored 19 points with eight assists and seven rebounds, including a halfcourt buzzer beater at the end of the half as ISU led for most of the game and survived a very late desperation comeback attempt to win 75-70 over Eastern Washington, pushing the Eagles to the brink of elimination.
Idaho State used a 13-2 first half run, fueled by three straight baskets from Donnie Carson, and finished off with an Amorrow Morgan three-point play as ISU turned a 22-18 deficit into a 31-24 lead, and ISU never trailed after that. The Bengals were up 36-30 until a wild final six seconds of the first half. Morgan dished a pretty pass for a sure Lucas Steijn layup, but Andy Geneo took a charge, with 5.6 left, turning it over to the Eagles. Then Benny Valentine threw a length of the court pass to Brandon Moore, who dropped the ball out of bounds with 1.0 on the clock. Matt Stucki then hit Morgan at midcourt on a curl, and after a quick dribble he heaved one the went straight through, with replay confirming the shot good.
ISU went up 11 at 58-47 on a Lucas Steijn and-one with 10:34 to go, and Steijn later added two free throws for a 13-point lead, but the and-one basket was ISU's only one in a span of 10:44. However, ISU played well defensively, and Eastern only cut that 13-point lead to seven when Carson ended that long skein with a three from right in front of the ISU bench to make it 67-57 with 2:23 left.
Carson hit two free throws with 1:16 to make it 70-59, but ISU went cold from the line down the stretch, hitting just 5-of-10 from the line, allowing Eastern to claw back in it. Milan Stanojevic, who was 10-for-10 from the line in Cheney against ISU, was fouled on a three-pointer but made just one, and then Carson missed two free throws. Andy Geneo, who led all scorers with 21 hit a floater to make it 70-62 with 53.6 left. ISU eventually pushed it back to nine with some free throws but Eastern hit two three pointers in a row, one with 8.9 left by Adris DeLeon, and then one by Benny Valentine with 4.1 left to shockingly make it 74-70 with 1.4 left.
However, Chron Tatum hit one last free throw to account for the final score.
The Bengals with the win moved into a tie for fourth place with Northern Colorado at 6-6, and possibly a three-way tie with Montana State, who takes on Sacramento State later in the evening. The Bengals were led by Morgan's 19, and Carson added a season-high 18, Steijn had a season-high 15 as well, and Tatum chipped in 10. For Eastern Washington, Geneo's 21 led everybody, Brandon Moore added 14, Benny Valentine had 13, and DeLeon had 10.
NOTES: Joe O'Brien is now 3-3 against Eastern Washington with three home wins and three home losses ... overall in Big Sky play over three years he is 22-22 ... Steijn's 15 was tied his Division I high, as he had 15 last year against Eastern Washington in Cheney ... Morgan led the team in rebounds for the first time this season ... After allowing 14 points off turnovers in the last two games, ISU allowed 15 on Saturday ... ISU blocked seven shots, three by Lucas Steijn ... Stucki needs three points to move past Sam Beckham and Brand Robinson and into 15th place on the all-time ISU scoring list ... ISU now leads both Eastern Washington and Northern Arizona by three games in the loss column, and ISU has the tiebreaker right now over both.
