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POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team came back from a tough first half to top Montana State 70-61 Thursday, January 8 at ICCU court inside Holt Arena.
"Our guys were terrific in the second half," Head Coach
Bill Evans said. "There mind set was really good. They were not about to roll over. I would have been really disappointed if we would have lost because their effort and desire to win was there tonight."
Chris Hansen led the Bengals with 26 points, 19 coming in the second half. He made all 17 of his free throw attempts while grabbing five rebounds.
"It is about getting in the gym and getting repetitions," Hansen said. "Coach has made all of us get in the gym because we are not a great free throw shooting team."
Jeffery Solarin had 14 points and four rebounds.
Ben Wilson had 10 points and
Nnamdi Ezenwa added nine points and five rebounds.
The Bengals shot 66.7 percent from the field in the second half and 50 percent for the game.ISU shot a season-best 88.9 percent from the free throw line, making 24-of-27. After a solid first-half where Montana State shot 53.3 percent, the Bengal defense held the Bobcats to 25 percent shooting in the second half (eight-for-32).
The Bengals trailed 31-12 with 8:13 left in the first half. ISU outscored MSU 16-9 in the final eight minutes to cut its deficit to 40-28 at halftime.
Idaho State started the second-half on an 18-5 run that was capped off by three Hansen free throws that tied the game at 46. Â ISU took its first lead of the game at 50-48 with 9:48 left in the game thanks to a Wilson jumper and the Bengals led 62-60 with 3:22 left in the second half after another Hansen basket. ISU never trailed again.
The Bengals improved to 1-2 in conference and 4-11 overall while Montana State dropped to 0-3 in conference and 3-12 overall. Â
The Bengals host University of Montana Saturday, January 10 at ICCU court. Tipoff is at 7:05 p.m.
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