Bengal Rally Falls Short at Eastern Washington

 
POCATELLO, Idaho- In a game that had seven lead changes and six ties, Eastern Washington prevailed over Idaho State on Saturday afternoon in Cheney, Wash., in a game that was a back and forth affair.

Neither team led by more than nine points. The Eagles biggest lead was nine late in the first half while ISU's biggest lead was three early in the game.

Tarik Cool led the Bengals in scoring with 20 points on 8-19 shooting. Cool had four assists and no turnovers. Brayden Parker scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. He scored is 15 points on 7-10 shooting. Jared Rodriguez scored 14 points.

Idaho State shot 45 percent from the field but only 19 percent from the three-point line (6-31). Idaho State was 10-12 from the free throw line.

Eastern Washington shot 48 percent and out rebounded the Bengals 32-29.

"I thought we gave a great effort today," Idaho State coach Ryan Looney said. "Our guys did a good job taking care of the ball. EWU has a great offensive team. We needed to do a better job staying together and organized on offense during stretches of both halves."

Eastern Washington led 38-29 at halftime. In the second half, the Bengals were able to tie the game after a bucket by Cool. The Bengals took a 48-46 lead with 12:55 left in the game after a basket by Rodriguez.

Eastern Washington's biggest lead the rest of the way was six points at several different occasions.

With the Eagles leading 61-55 with 6:29 left, ISU went on an 8-2 to tie the game at 63 with 3:50 left. The Eagles would jump back on top by six at 71-65 with 1:42 left and 73-68 with 21 seconds remaining.

Idaho State got within one at 73-72 after a layup by Malik Porter with nine seconds left. Eastern Washington then made two free throws and a last second 3-pointer by Tarik Cook rimmed off to seal the win for Eastern Washington.