POCATELLO, Idaho- Balint Mocsan scored 14 second-half points and finished with a career-high 23 to lead Idaho State to a 74-66 victory over CSUN from the Big West Conference on Wednesday night at ICCU Court in Holt Arena.
Mocsan scored his 23 points on 8-11 shooting and he was 6-9 from the three-point line. He played 32 minutes and had two steals.
Brandon Boyd's 15 points came in 27 minutes off the bench. He was 8-8 from the foul line and had five rebounds.
Novak Topalovic had 13 points and six rebounds while Jared Stutzman had 12 points.
The Bengals shot 41.4 percent for the game. After shooting 29 percent in the first half, ISU shot 55.6 percent in the final 20 minutes. The Bengals only turned the ball over eight times and
Geno Luzcando had a team-best four assists and three steals.
ISU was out rebounded 35-29. CSUN shot 50 percent for the game but after shooting 54.5 percent in the first half they shot 46 percent in the final 20 minutes and was forced into 17 turnovers.
The Bengals trailed 35-30 at halftime and 37-30 less than a minute into the second half. Idaho State then went on a 12-2 run to take a 42-39 lead with 16:45 left in the game thanks to a 3-pointer by Mocsan. During the run Stutzman scored five straight points, Boyd added a layup and Mocsan capped off the spurt with another 3-pointer.
Idaho State led by as many as eight points three different times during the final period. ISU led 55-47 with 11:06 remaining after another 3-pointer by Mocsan and then 59-51 with 8:35 to play after two free throws by Topalovic.
CSUN went on a run to retake the lead at 66-65 with 1:53 to play in the game but a jumper by Topalovic and a three-point play by Boyd put the game away for the Bengals in the final minute.
The Bengals were 5-5 from the free throw line in the final 34 seconds to put the game away.
Idaho State returns to the court to host Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. at ICCU Court in Holt Arena.
Game Notes
- ISU earned its first win of the year when trailing at halftime.
- ISU is 2-0 this year when four or more players score in double figures.
- Balint Mocsan had a career-high 23 points. His previous high was 21 at Washington State. His six 3-pointers made was a career-high.
- Jared Stutzman has scored in double figures in every game since he being granted to play by the NCAA.
- After shooting 4-16 from the three-point line in the first half ISU was 5-10 in the second.
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Geno Luzcando now has 175 career steals. He needs 15 to become ISU's all-time leader for steals.
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