BUIES CREEK, North Carolina - The Idaho State men's basketball team traveled to Buies Creek, North Carolina on Monday and Tuesday, November 20th and 21st, to participate in the Campbell Creek Classic. This year Campbell University hosted Idaho State along with NC Central and The Citadel. The Bengals were set to face off against The Citadel Monday afternoon and Campbell on Tuesday evening.
In the Bengals game versus The Citadel, we would see both teams struggle to score the ball early, but Idaho State would be able to outscore the Bulldogs by 10 in the first half and take a 23-13 lead in the halftime break.
The Bulldogs proved they were much better than their first half performance as they would go on to score 49 in the second half. The Bengals would take an eight-point advantage with less than a minute remaining, but once again late-game situations proved to be ISU's weak point as they would give up three straight three-point baskets and turn the ball over twice in the final 55 seconds. Following a foul and two made free-throws by each team with less than one second on the clock, the Bulldogs would complete the late-game comeback and down the Bengals 62-61.
Brayden Parker was the Bengals' leading scorer in this one as he put up 18 points on an efficient shooting night going 7-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point territory, tacking on six rebounds, one assist, and one block. Isaiah Griffin continued to be one of the Bengals leaders on the court early on this season, finishing with 10 points, six rebounds, 2 steals, one block, and one assist. Maleek Arington finished with a career-high in assist, dropping seven dimes to go along with six points, and tying a career-high in steals with four. In his first game starting in the Orange & Black Trent Johnson put up six points, two rebounds, and one assist. Kolton Mitchell and Kiree Huie both provided big boosts off the bench for ISU, Mitchell finished with eight points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block in just 20 minutes, and Huie was able to add nine points, two rebounds, and two blocks in 22 minutes.
The Bengals finished the game shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from deep finishing just 4-of-17 from three-point territory. The Bengals tallied 12 assists, 25 rebounds, and 9 steals.
The Citadel finished the game shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs finished with 9 assists and 28 boards, and 7 steals.
In Idaho State's second game in the Campbell Creek Classic the Bengals would take on the hosts, Campbell University.
The Bengals would immediately take it to the Fighting Camels in this one, after taking a 5-4 lead early, Idaho State would go on a 12-2 run to take an 11-point lead just eight minutes into the game. The Fighting Camels wouldn't go away easily, creeping back into the game as they would trail the Bengals by just four with five minutes left in the first half. However, ISU would end the half on a 15-3 run and bring their 41-25 lead into the halftime break.
The Bengals would open up the second half with a Trent Johnson triple off of a beautiful Miguel Tomley assist. As the second half played out Idaho State would not allow Campbell to grow closer than 13 points, holding off the Fighting Camels the rest of the game bringing the 69-55 victory back to Pocatello.
Kolton Mitchell came in off the bench and had a career night. Playing in a career-high 25 minutes the true freshman dropped a career-high and game-high 18 points off of 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 from deep, he also had five rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Kiree Huie came in off the bench for the second-straight game, totaling 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, seven rebounds, three steals, and two assists in 27 minutes. Brayden Parker was the lone starter in double figures for the Bengals, finishing with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, six rebounds, two blocks, and one assist. Maleek Arington would be dropping dimes all tournament long, finishing with seven assists for the second-straight game, tying a career-high. Arington also finished this one with a career-high in minutes played (38). Isaiah Griffin tallied nine points and four rebounds, and Miguel Tomley had five points, three rebounds, three assists, and one block.
The Bengals finished the game shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 24.1 percent from deep finishing 7-of-29 from three-point territory. The Bengals tallied 17 assists, 33 rebounds, and 9 steals.
Campbell finished the game shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc. The Fighting Camels finished with 13 assists and 28 boards, and 9 steals. The Bengals would force the Fighting Camels into committing 19 turnovers, the most the Bengals have forced in a game this season.
The Idaho State men's basketball team will be back in action this Tuesday, November 28th to take on the Pepperdine Waves in Malibu, California at 8:00 PM MT. This game will be available to stream on ESPN+ or you can follow along live with LiveStats.
