Written by Jon Match
Idaho State men’s basketball broke its skid Tuesday evening, downing the UMKC Roos 75-65 in Kansas City, MO.
The win snapped the Bengals’ five-game losing streak behind a lights-out shooting performance from Brock Mackenzie and Miguel Tomley.
“We completed our task and handled our business tonight,” remarked Assistant Coach Joe White postgame. “We had a couple of guys who were incredible tonight, they were phenomenal. Brayden was our spark plug off the bench and had some really timely baskets. They play a big, strong type of basketball and collectively we did a good job sticking together. UMKC tried to come back and we weathered it from the charity stripe.”
The Bengals took the lead three minutes into the game and while the Roos tried to come back, the Bengals held strong and kept the lead for the remainder of the match. Going into the match, the Bengals needed a spark, they got it tonight from Tomley and Mackenzie. At the end of the first half the pair had combined for 20 points and six made three-pointers. Brayden Parker led the Bengals in the paint the first half, scoring eight points on three field goals. The Bengals dominated the glass in the first half, outrebounding the Roos 21-14.
The second half saw the Bengals extend their lead to 16 on a made shot in the paint by Parker with 11:38 to go.UMKC wasn’t giving up though, and went on an 18-8 run to cut the Bengals’ lead to 60-56 with 4:44 to go. If there is one thing, the Bengals can take away from the previous stretch of games, it is the ability to play in close game situations. Facing the Roos’ onslaught, the Bengals didn’t blink. Miguel kicked it off with a steal and made layup to extend the lead back to six. The Bengals then got to work on the free throw line, Tomley, Mackenzie and Austin Smellie went 11-of-11 from the charity stripe and held cool under pressure. With the lead back to 10, the Bengal defense held tough the final 30 seconds and the Bengals closed out the 75-65 victory over the Roos.
Bengal Bites
· Brock Mackenzie finished the game seven-of-seven from three-point range. This is only the second time in ISU history that a Bengal has shot 1.000 with 7+ makes (Doug D’Amore 8-8 at Montana State, 2004 and D’Marr Suggs at Montana 2001).
· Miguel Tomley led both teams in scoring with 25 points on seven-of-25 from the field. This is Tomley’s second-straight game with 20+ points scored.
· Brayden Parker scored a season-high 24 points on six-of-12 shooting from the floor.
· The Bengals cleaned up considerably, only turning the ball over seven times and limiting the Roos to just five points off of those turnovers.
· As a team the Bengals tore up the court offensively, shooting 43.4 percent from the floor with 57.9 percent made three-pointers. From the free-throw line, the Bengals were terrific, going 18-20 for 90 percent made.
Up Next
After a long, nine-game roadtrip the Bengals are back home in Reed Gym on Saturday, Dec. 3 as they take on the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. Tip is set for 6:00 PM. The Game is game two of a double-header with the women’s team who will be playing St. Thomas at 2:00 PM.
It’s holiday sweater game, so wear those cheery sweaters, get down to Reed Gym and cheer on the Bengals.