Bengals Fall in Flagstaff

 
POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team lost 81-68 to NAU on Thursday evening at the Walkup Sky Dome in Flagstaff, Ariz. ISU dropped to 13-12 and 8-5 in Big Sky Conference play. NAU improved to 5-20 and 3-11 in league.
 
ISU shot 40 percent from the field while NAU shot 47 percent. The Bengals were 8-22 from the three-point line and the Lumberjacks were 11-29. Idaho State made 22-28 free throws and Northern Arizona was 16-23.

The Bengals turned the ball over 14 times and was out rebounded 34-31.

Geno Luzcando led ISU in scoring with 23 points and five rebounds. Ethan Telfair had 12 points. Ben Wilson was the top rebounder with seven.

"I don't think we played with the energy and toughness tonight that we have been playing with prior to this game," Idaho State coach Bill Evans said. "We did not guard the arc well and we couldn't make baskets. We weren't very good offensively and defensively. That is a bad combination."

Outside a 15-12 lead with 13:13 left in the first half, the Bengals trailed the entire game.  NAU then went on a 22-9 run to take a 34-24 lead with three minutes left in the first half. The Lumberjacks led 40-30 at halftime.

ISU cut its deficit to five twice in the second half with the last time being 48-43 with 12:48 left in the game.

NAU then went on an 18-7 run to extend its lead to 66-50 and led by as many as 17 at 70-53 with 4:25 left in the contest. ISU got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.

"The world hasn't come to an end," Evans said. "We have won seven of our last nine games and we have to get back on track on Saturday. Give NAU a lot of credit. They played hard."
 
Idaho State plays at Southern Utah on Saturday, Feb. 20. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.