POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team lost 84-80 to Southern Utah on Saturday afternoon in Cedar City, Utah.
The Bengals led 66-55 with 10:18 left in the game. Over the next five minutes SUU went on a 17-2 run to take a 72-68 lead with 5:05 remaining. Southern Utah led by as many as seven in the final minutes of the game.
The Bengals got within two at 82-80 with 12 seconds left but the Thunderbirds connected on their free throws to seal the win.
"We lost too many guys in transition today," Idaho State coach
Bill Evans said. "We needed to do a better job of guarding the three-point line at times too."
Idaho State shot 54 percent for the game while Southern Utah shot 44 percent. The Bengals were 20-25 from the free throw line while SUU was 22-28.
Idaho State out rebounded SUU 32-31 and had 11 turnovers while SUU only had three turnovers.
The Bengals had four players score in double figures led by
Jared Stutzman's 23 points on 8-15 shooting.
Brandon Boyd had 22 points on 8-13 shooting.
Novak Topalovic was a perfect 7-7 from the field and had 16 points and nine rebounds.
Balint Mocsan had 13 points and seven rebounds.
Idaho State led 41-40 at halftime and extended its lead to 58-48 with 13:42 to play after a basket by Topalovic. The Bengals had their 11 point lead at 66-55 with 10:18 left after a Boyd basket.
SUU held ISU to two points in the next five minutes to take the lead and earn the win.
Idaho State hosts Northern Colorado on Thursday, Feb. 8 and North Dakota on Saturday, Feb. 10. Â Both games begin at 7 p.m. in Holt Arena
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