Bengals Take Down Warriors 89-54

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POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team beat SAGU American-Indian College 89-54 on Thursday night in Reed Gym.
 
Idaho State finished with four players in double figures led by Tarik Cool's 22 points on 8-14 shooting. Brayden Parker had 13 points while Robert Ford III had 13 points and seven rebounds.
 
The Bengals out rebounded the Warriors 47-35 led by Malik Porter's nine. Idaho State shot 50 percent for the game and held SAGU to 30.9 percent. The Bengal defense held the Warriors to 20 percent from the field in the first half. ISU shot 34.5 percent in the first half but shot 62.9 percent in the final period.

Idaho State finished with a season-high 20 assists to only 13 turnovers. They also had 10 steals and forced 17 SAGU turnovers.

The Bengals led for all but three minutes of the game. Idaho State held a 33-15 lead at halftime and that lead was stretched to 36 in the second half.  Porter finished with 11 points and nine rebounds in the first half to spark the Bengals to the 18 point halftime lead.

In the first six plus minutes of the second half Idaho State outscored SAGU 20-10 to extend its lead to 53-25 with 13:29 left in the game following a layup by Parker.

Idaho State later led by 30 points at 66-36 with seven minutes left after a basket by Daxton Carr. A 3-pointer by Cool with 3:27 remaining extended the lead to 79-46.
 
Idaho State's Saturday afternoon contest at Utah Valley University was canceled due to COVID issues with the Wolverine program. Because Saturday's game was canceled SAGU agreed to stay in Pocatello and play Idaho State Friday night at 7 p.m.
 
Following Friday nights game Idaho State plays at Northern Colorado on Dec. 22 and 23. Both games tipoff at 2 p.m.