Bengals Fall to SUU to End Season

PHOTO GALLERY

BOISE, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team lost 94-80 to Southern Utah in the opening round of the Big Sky Conference tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Century Link Arena.

Idaho State finished the season 11-19 while No. 7 SUU improved to 15-15.

The Bengals led 41-40 at halftime but Southern Utah outscored the Bengals 54-39 in the second half.

Southern Utah shot 53.7 percent from the field for the game while Idaho State shot 49.1. The Bengals shot 57.1 percent in the first half but was held to 41 percent in the second half.

Southern Utah was 11-15 from the three-point line and the Bengals were 8-23. Both teams had 12 rebounds at halftime but for the game Southern Utah out rebounded ISU 36-22.

Alonzo Walker had a season-high 17 points and a team-high six rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench.

Sam Dowd had a season-high 12 points and Jared Stutzman had 10 points. 

Brandon Boyd had four assists while Boyd and Walker each had three steals.

Idaho State led 15-4 five minutes into the game. Southern Utah stormed back to take a 22-20 lead with 9:50 to play in the first half. The Bengals had eight point leads of 32-24 and 35-27 but the T-Birds outscored Idaho State 13-6 over the final 5:50.

Early in the second-half both teams exchanged leads. Idaho State led 52-51 with 15 minutes left in the game following two free throws by Walker.

Southern Utah then went on a 17-5 run to take a 68-57 lead with 11:10 remaining in the game. The Bengals made a run to cut the T-Bird lead to 72-68 with 6:40 to play following a steal and layup by Boyd, a dunk by Walker and a 3-pointer by Gary Chivichyan.

The Bengals got no closer the rest of the way.

Notes
- Brandon Boyd finished his junior year with 1,259 points. That mark ranks 12^th all-time and seven points away from moving into 11^th place.
- Gary Chivichyan now has 433 career three-point attempts, ranking him fourth following his junior year. His 175 3-pointers made ranks fourth all-time in the school record book.
- Balint Mocsan had 409 career three-point attempts, ranking him fifth and his two 3-pointers made gives him 174 for his career. That mark ranks fifth.
- Idaho State is 0-13 when giving up 80 points or more.