POCATELLO, Idaho- Ali Faruq-Bey scored a game-high 28 points, 25 coming in the second-half, to rally Idaho State to a 78-72 victory over Great Falls on Friday night at Reed Gym. Faruq-Bey finished the game shooting 9-18 and making six 3-pointers on 12 attempts in 27 minutes of play.
"The one thing you can't take from Ali is that he plays with tremendous effort," Idaho State coach
Bill Evans said. "That is what makes him good."
The Bengals shot 39.6 percent for the game and held Great Falls to 39.4 shooting. Great Falls out rebounded ISU 43-40 but the Bengals forced 18 turnovers. The Bengals were 24-35 from the free throw line.
"We believed in ourselves and we believed we would win," Evans said. "I don't think we played very well or as hard as we needed to in the first half. You have to give the guys credit because they kept pecking away."
Ethan Telfair had 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals while
Geno Luzcando had 12 points and eight rebounds.
Idaho State trailed by as many as 16 points late in the first half and 42-28 at halftime. ISU cut the Great Falls lead to 57-51 with 10:11 left in the game thanks to a
Justin Smith 3-pointer. Idaho State trailed 68-61 with 4:39 left in the contest before closing out the game on a 17-4 run.
Luzcando gave ISU the lead the lead for good when he converted a three-point play with 2:55 left in the game. Faruq-Bey gave the Bengals an eight-point lead at 76-68 on a 3-pointer with 45 seconds remaining. Faruq-Bey kept ISU in the game by scoring 14 of the Bengals first 17 points of the second half.
Idaho State is back in action on Monday, November 16 vs. Dickinson State. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. in Reed Gym.
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