PORTLAND, Oregon – The Idaho State men's basketball team is in the midst of a trip to the West Coast, their task at hand tonight was the Portland State Vikings, who they have lost the last six in a row to.
Idaho State and Portland State battled early, neither team able to extend their leads larger than five points. Following two good free-throws by
Miguel Tomley to cap off a 15-point first half, the Bengals found themselves leading 30-27 at half.
In the second half the Bengals finally broke through, thanks to a
Kiree Huie putback layup, and extended their lead to the largest of the game at 14 points with just six minutes left to play. However, the Vikings would not go down easily, as they proceeded to go on an 8-0 run over the next minute and 34 seconds, to cut the Idaho State lead to just six, 61-55, with 4:26 left to play. After a
Brayden Parker three-pointer the Vikings once again went on a run, this time a 7-0 run to cut the Bengal lead down to just two, 64-62, with 59 seconds remaining. The Bengal defense would hold strong the final minute, only surrendering one point to Portland State, and they would end the final minute outscoring the Vikings 5-1, to earn the Bengals their first Big Sky win of the season, 69-63, and their first win over the Vikings since the 2020-21 season. Following the win, the Bengals move to 6-10 overall and 1-2 in Big Sky play. With the loss Portland State falls to 10-6 overall and 1-2 in Big Sky play.
Miguel Tomley led the way for Idaho State tonight, tying a season-high with 19 points, tying a career-high with five assists, four rebounds, and one steal.
Maleek Arington would tally 12 points, five assists, a career-high six rebounds, and add four steals, and
Brayden Parker would be the final Bengal scoring in double-digits as he had 11 points, tied a season-high with seven rebounds, tied a career-high with four steals, tied a season-high with three assists, and two blocks.
Kiree Huie put up eight points, five rebounds, and one block, and the final starter for Idaho State,
Isaiah Griffin, recorded seven points, a season-high 11 rebounds, and one assist. Coming in off the bench
AJ Burgin continued to shoot the three-ball well, as had seven points on 2-of-4 shooting from deep, three rebounds, and one assist in 18 minutes, and
Trent Johnson finished with five points, and two rebounds in 22 minutes of action.
With his two blocks tonight,
Brayden Parker (94) moves past Jesse Smith (93) for 5
th place all-time on the ISU All-Time Blocks leaderboard. Parker also sits at 1,055 career points after tonight's 11 points. Just four points shy of passing
Tarik Cool for 21
st on the ISU All-Time Scoring list.
The Bengals finished the game shooting 38.6 percent from the field, and 32.1 percent from three-point land, going 9-of-28 from deep (tied for most in a game this season). The Bengals tallied 15 assists (5
th most in a game this season), 42 rebounds (most in a game since Nov. 16
th vs Northwest U), and 9 steals.
Portland State finished the game shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three-point territory (8-for-23). The Vikings finished with 25 rebounds, 7 steals, and 13 assists.
The Bengal men's basketball team will finish up their two-game road-trip in Sacramento, California on Saturday, January 13
th at 7 PM MT. The Sacramento State Hornets will be hosting the Bengals for the schools' first of two matchups this season. This game will be available to stream on ESPN+ or listen live as Scott Gross will have the call on KISU.
