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POCATELLO, Idaho- Ethan Telfair scored a game-high 30 points and knocked down the game-winner at the buzzer to lift Idaho State to a 69-68 victory over first-place Weber State on Saturday night in Reed Gym.
Telfair's game-winner was set up after Weber State's Jeremy Senglin missed the front end of a one-in-one free throw with 18 seconds left in the game.
"I am just glad my coaches trust me with the ball in my hand," Telfair said. "My teammates had the confidence in me to bring us home. I am glad I was able to do that."
Telfair scored his 30 points on 9-14 shooting from the field. He was 8-11 from the free throw line and 4-5 from the three-point line. He had six assists and three steals in 39 minutes of play.
"I knew it was going in before I even shot it," Telfair said on his game-winner. "When I was walking up the court I knew I was going to hit the shot."
The Bengals shot 53.1 percent from the field and 62.5 percent in the first half to improve to 8-10 and 3-3 in Big Sky Conference play. Weber State dropped to 13-6 and 5-1 in league.
Weber State was held to 41.4 percent shooting and was forced into 17 turnovers. While ISU had nine steals and only turned it over 12 times.
Geno Luzcando scored 15 points and had four steals on 6-11 shooting.
Kyle Ingram had a team-high 10 rebounds.
"I am happy that we won, not just because we beat Weber but for my team so we can believe that we can win these games," Telfair said. "We will enjoy the win but when we get back to practice we will remain humble and continue to prepare."
It took a late-game rally for Idaho State to earn the victory. ISU trailed 62-52 with 4:43 left in the game. In the Bengals game-winning 17-6 run, ISU was 7-9 from the free throw line and Telfair scored 11 of his 30 points during that stretch.
"We stood together through adversity," Telfair said.
ISU coach
Bill Evans added, "It is a credit to them. I told them have to tough this thing out, keep playing, get stops and be aggressive. We have to take good shots. One shot is not going to catch us up. Anytime you go to the foul line late in the game when that clock stops that is a good thing. We did that a couple of times."
Idaho State led 36-34 at halftime and led by as many as 10 points in the first half. The Bengals trailed by as many as 11 points at 59-48 with 7:51 left in the game.
Evans said he was pleased with how his team performed, especially on center Joel Bolomboy, who came into the game averaging 20 points and 15 rebounds in conference play. On Saturday night he was held to 13 points and seven rebounds.
"One guy never wins," Evans said. "It is a bunch of guys. We were good defensively. I think Geno was good. We did a pretty good job on Bolomboy. He is a pro. He only had seven rebounds tonight."
Idaho State continues its home stand next week when it hosts Southern Utah on Thursday, January 28 at 7 p.m. and Northern Arizona on January 30 at 7 p.m. Both games will be played at ICCU Court in Holt Arena.
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