Bengals Fall to First-Place Montana

POCATELLO, Idaho - Despite 30 points from Ethan Telfair, the Idaho State men's basketball team dropped an 90-77 decision to first-place Montana Thursday night in Reed Gym. The Bengals never led and Montana jumped out to a big first-half lead to set the tone.
 
With the loss ISU falls to 9-6 in the Big Sky Conference and 14-13 overall. Montana improved to 13-2 and 18-8 with the victory.
 
Montana shot 53 percent for the game and 54 percent from the three-point line (13-24), well above its season average of 36 percent. ISU shot 44.4 percent and just 38 percent from three. The Bengals also turned the ball over 12 times to just seven for Montana.
 
"Our guys made a good enough effort to win," Idaho State coach Bill Evans said. "I don't think we were very good offensively or defensively and you have to give Montana the credit for all of that."
 
Geno Luzcando and Ben Wilson both scored in double figures for the Bengals with 17 and 11 apiece. Telfair had four assists but picked up his fourth foul early in the second half.  
 
Freshman guard Bobby Moorehead scored a career high 24 points while going 8-11 from behind the arc for Montana. Junior guard Walter Wright scored 29 points to lead the Griz. He also added four assists and five rebounds. Senior forward Martin Breunig picked up a double-double scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
 
The Bengals started off slow and fell behind by as many as 15 at 27-12 with 9:39 remaining in the first period.
 
"We didn't have an answer for their outside shooting," said Telfair. "We saw who was the best team in the conference tonight but now we know that we can compete."
 
ISU went on a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to five at 29-24 but back-to-back threes from Montana ballooned the lead back to nine.
 
ISU shot 45 percent in the first half and 56 percent from behind the three point line. The Griz shot 54.8 percent in the half, including 61.5 percent from three.
 
The Bengals closed the first half on a 6-0 run and opened up the second half with two quick buckets to cut the deficit to 43-39 with 19:28 left in the half.
 
The Montana lead was cut to as little as three after two free-throws by Luzcando made the score 47-44 with 16:58 left in the second half, but the Bengals did not get any closer. 
 
The teams went back and forth for the next six minutes but Montana used an 8-1 run to take a 62-51 lead midway through the second period.

"The effort was there tonight," said Evans. "But the productivity at both ends was not."
 
The Bengals play their final home game of the season against Montana State on Saturday, February 27 at 7 p.m. mountain time in Reed Gym. It is the final home game for Wilson and Evann Hall. They will be honored prior to the start of the game.