Box Score
POCATELLO,Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team's 17 points in overtime were not enough to beat Southern Utah Thursday night at Holt Arena. The Bengals fell to the Thunderbirds 81-79 and falls to 3-10 in the Big Sky Conference play and 4-18 overall. Southern Utah improves to 8-5 in league and 10-12 overall.
Free throws played a major part in the game as both teams combined to shoot 68 attempts. Idaho State had 33 of 79 points from the free throw line on 40 attempts while SUU was 25-for-28 from the line.
ISU shot 82.5 percent at the free throw line and SUU was 89.3 percent. Four Bengals scored in double figures, led by
Tomas Sanchez' 19 points and five assists.
Andre Hatchett had a career high 18 points and was five-for-seven from the field and 8-for-10 from the free throw line.
Melvin Morgan scored 15 points and
Neveij Walters had 11. The Bengals shot 41.2 percent from the field.
Southern Utah out rebounded ISU 42-28. Idaho State forced 22 T-Bird turnovers had 10 steals. There were 21 lead changes and 13 ties in the game.
"It was all about rebounding the ball," Idaho State coach
Bill Evans said. "We got enough free throws and opportunities. We need to rebound the ball better. They have some tough guys and they went after the ball. They have a little more size than we do and they just rebounded the basketball."
Trailing 62-60, Morgan made two free throws with 36 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime. Southern Utah took an early 69-65 lead in the extra stanza with 2:48 left. Less than a minute later, the Bengals scored five straight points to lead 70-69 after a basket by Hatchett. ISU had their last lead at 73-71 after a 3-pointer by Sanchez with 1:45 left on the clock. Southern Utah took the lead for good and led by as many as four points in the final minute of the game.
Idaho State travels to Ogden, Utah to play Weber State Monday, February 11 at 7:00 pm. The game will be broadcasted on Altitude 2.
We Are Your Bengals
