Pocatello, ID- The Bengals men's basketball squad took on the University of Montana Grizzlies for the second time this season, Thursday evening. Idaho State fell behind in the first half as they trailed by 10 with just a little over five minutes remaining but capped the first half off on a 13-3 run and went into half-time tied with the Griz at 34. In the second half Idaho State drew stagnant as the Griz opened on a 16-6 run. As the game seemed out of reach late the Bengals made one last ditch effort to form a comeback. Idaho State got to within four of Montana but the Griz remained cool and composed as they went 9-of-10 from the charity stripe in the final minute of the contest and took home the victory, defeating the Bengals by a final score of 69-61. Following the loss Idaho State drops to 9-16 on the season and 6-6 in conference play, the University of Montana Grizzlies will bump up to 13-12 on the year and 7-6 in the Big Sky after the win.
Brock Mackenzie was Idaho State's leading scorer on the evening as he tallied 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, a season-high seven rebounds, and two assists. We saw Kolby Lee finished with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, five rebounds, one block, and one steal and Brayden Parker snag eight boards, two points, three blocks, and one assist in just 20 minutes played. AJ Burgin also had one of his better games this season as he came off the bench and scored nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point land, two rebounds, one block, and one steal in 16 minutes.
The Bengals finished the game shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from deep making just 3-of-18 shots from beyond the arc. The Bengals tallied 8 assists, 39 rebounds, and 6 steals. Montana finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from distance. This is the first game all season the Bengals have allowed an opponent to shoot above 50% from behind the three-point line.
The Idaho State men's basketball team will be back in action Saturday, February 11th to battle with the Montana State University Bobcats in Reed Gym at 6 p.m.
