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POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team snapped a 10-game losing streak in Ogden, beating Weber State 62-60 in front of a crowd of 7,552 at the Dee Events Center. The Bengals improved to 6-6 and 1-0 in league play while Weber State dropped to 7-6 and 0-1 in league.
Idaho State led for 37 of the 40 minutes of the game and led by as many as 14 points in the first half. ISU shot 50.9 percent from the field, including 54 percent in the second half.
Weber State shot 45 percent from the field but was held to 18.8 percent shooting from the three-point line (3-16).
"We were solid defensively," Idaho State coach
Bill Evans said. "We took away the three and was organized and patient on the offensive end."
Idaho State out rebounded Weber State 34-27 and was led by Balint Mocsan's seven boards. Jared Stutzman had a season-high six rebounds.
Geno Luzcando and
Novak Topalovic each had five boards.
Stutzman led Idaho State in scoring with 17 points. He was 7-11 from the field in 34 minutes of play.
"He is a really good teammate," Evans said. "He is a good shooter and plays for all the right reasons."
Brandon Boyd had 15 on 6-9 shooting in 31 minutes off the bench. Balint Mocsan had 12 points in 35 minutes of play.
The Bengals got off to a hot start, leading 19-5 with 11:54 left until halftime. The quick start was capped off by a Stutzman tip in. He also had a tip in to give the Bengals an early 7-3 lead.
Idaho State led the entire first half. Weber State cut the Bengal lead to four several times throughout the half and held a 31-27 lead at the break thanks to a Luzcando dunk with 11 seconds left.
Weber State led 36-34 and 38-37 five minutes into the second half but the Bengals quickly regained the lead and never relinquished it.
ISU built a 43-38 lead after layups by Stutzman, Luzcando and Topalovic with 13:07 left in the game. Idaho State led 48-40 after two Boyd free throws two minutes later.
The Bengals led 62-52 with 2:29 to play in the game and survived a late Wildcat run to earn the victory.
"It felt great," Evans said. "We beat a good team. I knew they would make some runs. It was a really good college basketball game. We made some big plays but we have to make our free throws. This was a great win for us and now we have two big games this weekend at home."
Idaho State returns home to host Southern Utah on Thursday, Jan. 4 and Northern Arizona on Saturday, January 6. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. at ICCU Court in Holt Arena.
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Notes
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Geno Luzcando's five steals broke Jim Rhode's (1985-89) record of 189. He now has 192 career steals.
- ISU's last win at Weber State was 58-55 on Jan. 4, 2007.
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