POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team lost 78-72 to Southern Utah on Saturday afternoon in Cedar City, Utah.
The game was tied at 42 at halftime after both teams shot 50 percent from the field. In the second half the Bengals shot 34 percent while Southern Utah shot 50 percent once again.
Idaho State shot 41.9 percent from the field and made nine 3-pointers on 27 attempts. ISU was 11-11 from the free throw line and was out rebounded 38-31.
Kelvin Jones and
Brandon Boyd led Idaho State in scoring with 16 points.
Balint Mocsan had 13 points.
Alonzo Walker had a team-high seven rebounds.
"My guys played hard and I am really proud of their effort," Idaho State coach
Bill Evans said. "We came up a little short but it wasn't because of effort. We just didn't shoot the ball well in the second half."
Following halftime Idaho State jumped out to a 53-48 lead with 14:19 left in the game after a layup by Jones. Jones had scored six straight points to spark ISU during the spurt.
Idaho State was then held scoreless for nearly seven minutes, allowing SUU to retake the lead at 59-53 with 7:53 to play.
The Bengals tied the game at 63 and 66 on 3-pointers by
Gary Chivichyan and
Jared Stutzman and later took a 70-69 lead with 2:34 to play after Jones made two free throws. The Bengals were then outscored 9-2 the rest of the way.
Idaho State is back at home Thursday, February 14 vs. Montana State and Saturday, Feb. 16 vs. Montana. Both games tip at 7 p.m. in Reed Gym.
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