Box Score
POCATELLO, Idaho- In a game that saw 10 ties and 17 lead changes with no team holding a lead greater than nine points, the Idaho State men's basketball team lost at home to Loyola Marymount, 79-76, in overtime. The Lions improved to 2-2 while ISU dropped to 1-3.
Melvin Morgan came off the bench to score a team-high 24 points, 15 in the second half, in 30 minutes of play, and
Chase Grabau played the entire 45 minutes and had the first double-double of his career, scoring 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Grabau scored 14 points in the first half.
“I thought Chase and Melvin were outstanding,” Idaho State coach Joe O'Brien said. “Chase carried us the first half and Melvin carried us the second half. They just need more help. We can't win games with a couple of guys as options. We had six guys in double figures last week but we knew that Colorado Christian wasn't going to be the caliber of opponent that Loyola Marymount was.”
Andre Hatchett scored 10 points and
Abner Moreira had 10 rebounds in 45 minutes of play.
The Bengals only shot 39 percent from the floor while LMU shot 50 percent. Both teams had 38 rebounds. ISU turned the ball over 17 times while LMU had 14 turnovers.
“I thought we played pretty good basketball,” O'Brien said. “They shoot 50 percent and we shoot 39 and that tells the story. They consistently hit a higher percentage shot then we did.”
Loyola Marymount was led in scoring by Anthony Ireland's 25 points.
“He is the best point guard we played against this year,” O'Brien said. “It is good practice for us because there are some good point guards in our league.”
The Bengals led 66-64 with 1:46 to play in regulation after a three-point play by Morgan but Ireland tied it up for the Lions with 1:27 to play in the contest. Idaho State had the ball and a chance to win the game in regulation but turned the ball over in the final seconds.
In the overtime period, ISU led 74-70 with 1:58 to play but LMU came back and scored seven straight points to take a 77-74 lead with 23 seconds remaining. Morgan connected on a layup with 19 seconds to bring ISU within one point but Ireland hit two free throws with eight seconds left and a last second 3-pointer by ISU fell short.
“That is the best defense we have played against,” O'Brien said. “They came in prepared. They are very athletic.”
Idaho State returns to the court on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. for a contest against Utah State in Holt Arena. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.
We Are Your Bengals
