Men's Basketball Hosts Montana Tech on Friday

Game Notes | Audio | Video | Live Stats

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team begins the 2015-16 season with an exhibition game on Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. vs. Montana Tech in Reed Gym. The game will be heard live on 101.1 KEIR with Jerry Miller and Brad Bugger calling the action. Fans can follow the game live online with live audio, video and stats by logging onto isubengals.com.

The Bengals enter Friday's game with five returning players with Division I experience. The only returning starter is Ben Wilson.  Evan Hall, Geno Luzcando, Erik Nakken and Justin Smith are the returning Bengals with playing experience.

Spencer Nicolds and Novak Topalovic were on the team last year but redshirted while Clint Nwosuh, Ethan Telfair, Gary Chivichyan, Brandon Boyd, Ali Faruq-Bey, Stephen Lennox, Xavier Banks and Kyle Ingram will see their first Division I action as Bengals.

Idaho State vs. Montana Tech
Idaho State leads the regular season series with Montana Tech 42-11. The last regular season meeting between the two schools was a 69-57 Bengal victory on Nov. 29, 2010 in Pocatello. ISU beat Montana Tech 66-59 in an exhibition game in Reed Gym last year.  Idaho State also had a 71-41 exhibition win over the Orediggers on Nov. 1, 2012.

Scouting  Montana Tech
Montana Tech has opened the 2015-16 season with a 4-0 mark. They defeated Concordia University 93-72 and 93-70 and Northwest Indian College 110-101 and 91-75.

The Diggers are scoring 96.8 points a game and shooting .502 percent from the field, .387 percent from the 3-point line and .705 percent  from the free throw line. Jalen Coates is averaging 22 points a game (33-49 from the field), Paul Engstrom 17 points and 10 rebounds, Cruz Ginnsjr 13 points and Flemming Okeke 12 points.

New Scorers
With the losses of Chris Hansen and Jeff Solarin, the Bengals will have new players stepping up to score the basketball this year. ISU returns only 24 percent of its offense from the 2014-15 season as Ben Wilson is the top returning scorer with the most experience, as he averaged 6.9 points a game. Evann Hall averaged 4.5 points, Geno Luzcando averaged 3.1 points and Erik Nakken netted 1.8 points a game. Justin Smith saw time as a freshman during the 2013-14 season. He scored 46 points and averaged 1.8 points a game.

Hello My Name Is…
This year Idaho State welcomes eight new faces to the roster.

Gary Chivichyan, 6-4, 200, Wing, Middlebooks Prep, Fr.
- Averaged 21 points a game and shot 50 percent from the field during his season at Middlebrooks Prep.
- While prepping at Alemany High School averaged 18 points, six rebounds and shot 45 percent from the 3-point line.

Ethan Telfair, 6-0, 175, G, Redlands Community College, Jr.
- Comes to Idaho State after an excellent two years at Redlands Community College in Oklahoma.
- As a sophomore at Redlands he averaged 14 points, five assists and four rebounds a game.

Clint Nwosuh, 6-2, 190 G, Motlow State, Jr.
- Prepped at Alief Hastings High School in Houston, Texas, where he earned all-city and honorable mention all-state honors.
- Signed with Alcorn State out of high school and appeared in 11 games as a freshman before transferring to Motlow State.
- At Motlow State, averaged 14 points a game, shot 46 percent from the floor and 44 percent from the three-point line.
- He made a school record 11 3-pointers on 16 attempts in one game and scored a season-high 37 points. He also was an 87 percent free throw shooter.

Stephen Lennox, 6-8, 215, Post, Lovington High School, Fr.
- Averaged 18 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks a game.
- Named the district MVP, earned first-team all-state honors and as a junior he was named the 2013-14 3A Boys Junior of the Year by NMpreps.com.

Ali Faruqbey, 6-2, 175, G, Arizona Western, So.
- Led his team to a Region I championship as a freshman.
- Led the Matadors by scoring 16.3 points per game in his freshman season.
- As a freshman the Chicago native shot 38.6% from the three-point line while also shooting 45.9% from the field.
- Averaged four rebounds a game.

Kyle Ingram, 6-8, 220, F/C, Fresno City, Jr.
- Averaged six points a game and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 63 percent from the floor.
- Averaged one block a game.
- Prepped at J. Serra High School in Pasadena, Calif.

Brandon Boyd, 5-11, 170, Fr. Los Angeles, Calif., Middebooks Prep
- Graduated from Bishop Alemany in 2014 and averaged 20 points a game while earning all-league and all-state honors.
- Led his team to a state championship in 2012 ... CIF finalists in 2014.

Xavier Banks, 6-2, 190, Fr. Idaho Falls, Idaho, Skyline HS
- Walk on from Skyline High School.