PHOTO GALLERY
POCATELLO, Idaho- The effort was their but a second-half spurt by Eastern Washington lifted the Eagles to a 92-85 victory over Idaho State on Thursday evening at Reed Gym.
ISU led 50-46 two minutes into the second half before Eastern Washington went on 14-0 run to take a 60-50 lead with 13:15 left in the game. The Bengals got no closer than four points the rest of the way but did make a run in the final minute to come within five points.
Idaho State shot 50.8 percent from the field while Eastern Washington shot 58.9 percent. Both teams shot better than 60 percent in the first half. EWU shot 69 while ISU shot 60.7 percent in the first 20 minutes.
ISU was forced into 15 turnovers while the Eagles had 13. Eastern out rebounded the Bengals 28-27 and hit 18 of 23 free throws and 8-18 3-pointers. Idaho State was 10-30 from the three-point line and 11-17 from the foul line.
Brandon Boyd led Idaho State in scoring with 23 points in 31 minutes off the bench. He was 9-11 from the field and 5-6 from the three-point line.
Ethan Telfair had 21 points on 7-19 shooting in 40 minutes. He had four rebounds and four assists.
Geno Luzcando had 14 points and four rebounds in 35 minutes of play.
ISU trailed by 16-5 six minutes into the game and 25-16 with 10:24 to play in the first half. ISU then outscored the Eagles 12-4 over the next three minutes to cut its deficit to 29-28 with 6:47 left in the half after a layup by Boyd.
Idaho State trailed by one at 38-37 after a 3-pointer by Boyd and 40-39 after a layup by
Stephen Lennox with 1:40 left in the first half.
"They tried hard," Idaho State coach
Bill Evans said. "I have no problem with their effort. None at all. I think they tried hard the entire game."
Idaho State trailed 44-42 at the break but jumped out to a 50-46 lead with 17:50 left in the game after a 3-pointer by Telfair. Eastern Washington then held the Bengals scoreless over the next five minutes to take the lead for good.
"I think we were a little impatient offensively," Evans said on his team's second-half play. "Sometimes we settled for shots instead of making them guard us. I don't think we were as patient as we needed to be. It was not because we were selfish. We were trying hard. We just weren't patient."
Jacob Wiley led Eastern Washington with 27 points on 10-12 of shooting and Bogdan Bliznyuk had 19 points.
"We weren't very good defensively tonight," Evans said. "We knew that Jake Wiley and Bliznyuk were really good players and we didn't do a good job of guarding them."
Idaho State plays host to Idaho on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Reed Gym. The 1976-77 men's basketball Elite 8 team will be honored at halftime of the game and a reception will be held at 6 p.m. in the lobby of the Campus Recreation Center. All fans with a ticket to the game are invited to attend the pregame reception.
Schedule Change Note: The Feb 2 and Feb. 4 home games vs. NAU and SUU have been moved to Reed Gym. There was previously a conflict that was in Reed Gym that didn't permit the games to be moved but on Wednesday evening it was worked out that the event in Reed would be moved to Holt Arena, allowing the Bengals to finish the rest of their season in Reed Gym. Those with tickets for the game will receive new tickets in the mail by the end of January.
Â
Â
