POCATELLO, Idaho – The Bengals men's basketball squad opened Big Sky Conference play off Thursday night against the Montana State Bobcats. The Bobcats came in defeating the Bengals in their last 9 straight matchups.
Montana State came out of the gates strong, surging to an early 10-2 lead in the game. The Bobcats would go on to extend their lead to 20-10 with 9:18 left to play in the first half. Idaho State would gain some momentum, ending the first half on a 6-0 run in the final 53 seconds, all six points scored by
Miguel Tomley, making a long two-point jumper, and two fastbreak layups to cut the Bobcat lead to just six heading into the halftime break, 33-27.
In the second half the Bobcats came out of the gates strong once again, going on a 7-2 run to begin the half and take a 40-29 lead. Idaho State would wither the Bobcat lead down to 7 points multiple times in the second half, but MSU would respond and grow their lead back to double digits each time. Idaho State would find themselves trailing 65-54 with just 2:46 left to play in the game, but
Miguel Tomley would spark a comeback, draining back-to-back three pointers to cut the Montana State lead to 65-60 with 1:52 left to play. ISU would bring the lead down to four points thanks to two
Maleek Arington free-throws with 37 seconds remaining, but could not complete the comeback as the Bobcats closed out the Bengals with a final score of 74-66. Following the loss, the Bengals fall to 4-8 on the year and open conference play 0-1. Montana State will get back in the win column, moving their record to 6-6 this season, opening Big Sky play 1-0.
Miguel Tomley led the way for ISU, dropping a season-high 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from deep, Tomley also snagged four rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Brayden Parker finished tonight's game with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, two rebounds, and one block.
Maleek Arington was the final Bengal scoring in double figures tonight, finishing with 11 points, making 9-of-10 free-throws in the game, tying a career-high with seven assists, and also grabbing two rebounds, and two steals.
Kiree Huie tallied eight points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks, and off the bench for the Bengals,
AJ Burgin scored six points on 2-of-4 shooting from beyond-the-arc, while also snaring five rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 21 minutes of action.
With his 17 points tonight,
Brayden Parker now sits at 986 career points, needing just 14 more to become the 25
th Bengal to reach the 1,000-career point mark. With Parker's block tonight, he also jumps up the ISU All-Time Blocks leaderboard. Parker now has 86 career blocks, moving him into sole possession of 7
th place all-time, needing just one more to tie himself for 6
th with Deividas Busma (2008-11).
The Bengals finished the game shooting 47.9 percent from the field, and 35.3 percent from three-point land, going 6-of-17 from deep. The Bengals tallied 14 assists, 31 rebounds, and 4 steals.
Montana State finished the game shooting 49 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from three-point territory. The Bobcats finished with 23 rebounds, 6 steals, and 6 assists. MSU forced Idaho State to commit 15 turnovers, leading to 18 Bobcat points.
The Idaho State men's basketball team will be back in action on Saturday, December 30
th at 4 pm as they host the University of Montana for their second Big Sky conference game.
