POCATELLO, Idaho –The Bengals men's basketball team faced off with Northern Arizona for the second time this season this evening. In their first matchup in Flagstaff, Arizona the Bengals walked out with a two-point win, and will look to make it five in a row versus the Lumberjacks.
The Bengals jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, thanks in part to four early Maleek Arington free-throws. Idaho State would stretch their lead to the largest of the first-half at 10 points, 18-8, following an Isaiah Griffin jumper, however, Northern Arizona would not go down that easily. The Lumberjacks would storm back, tying the game at 22 apiece with 8:26 to play in the first half. Following a Maleek Arington jumper the Bengals would take a three-point advantage into the halftime break over Northern Arizona, 38-35.
At the 17:13 mark of the second half, Isaiah Griffin would hit a corner three to extend the Bengals' lead back to eight points, 47-39. Maleek Arington would hit another mid-range jump shot, stretching the ISU lead to their largest of the game at 11, 64-53, with just 10:09 to play. However, over the next six minutes the Lumberjacks would hold the Bengals scoreless, going on a 13-0 run to go up by two, 69-67 with 4:15 to play. With the Bengals in desperation mode late, trailing 71-76 with two minutes remaining, Miguel Tomley would score the final five points on the game, tying the game on two clutch free-throws with just four seconds on the clock, sending the game to overtime with the score knotted at 76.
In overtime, Idaho State came out hot, going on a 6-0 to take an 82-76 lead with 2:25 on the clock. However, as they did all game, NAU would fight their way back, holding the Bengals to just two points the remainder of the OT period, and after two free-throws with just six seconds left, NAU would tie the game back up at 84 all, sending us to 2OT.
In double overtime the Bengals and Lumberjacks exchanged free-throws and layups down low, and after a good NAU jump shot the Lumberjacks would find themselves up by two late, 90-88 with just 42 seconds remaining. The Bengals would be unable to score late, as they would go on to fall 92-88 after two more NAU free-throws. In 2OT Northern Arizona would end the final 2:48 holding ISU scoreless, going on a game-winning 7-0 run. After the loss, Idaho State drops to 12-17 overall and 7-9 in Big Sky play. The Lumberjacks will improve their record to 14-16 overall and 7-9 in Big Sky play.
Miguel Tomley was the top scorer for Idaho State tonight, as all five starters ended in double figures for scoring. Tomley would put up 24 points, two rebounds, and three assists. Maleek Arington would tally a career-high in scoring with 23 points, a career-high six steals, three assists, three rebounds, and one block, as Arington would play in all 50 minutes in this one. Kiree Huie would finish the game fouling out after 31 minutes of play with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, nine rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal, while fellow big man, Brayden Parker, would also end the game fouling out. Playing just 28 minutes and ending tonight with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field, six rebounds, two blocks, two assists, and one steal. The final starter for the Bengals, Isaiah Griffin, would end the game with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and 2-of-2 from deep, five rebounds, two assists, and one steal in a career-high, 46 minutes of play. Off the bench for the Bengals, Briggs Ranstrom would play in a career-high 30 minutes and record four rebounds, two assists, two blocks, one point, and one steal. Also seeing some action tonight AJ Burgin would grab two boards and get one assist in 10 minutes, Trent Johnson would finish with two points and two rebounds in eight minutes, and Gavin Gilstrap would total one rebound and one block in three minutes of play.
Following his 11 points and 2 blocks, Brayden Parker moves into 12th on the ISU All-Time Scoring list with 1,261 career points, passing Brandon Boyd (1,259). Parker also moves into sole possession of 3rd place on the ISU All-Time Blocks list, with 116 career blocks, officially passing Nate Green (114).
After recording a career-high six steals, Maleek Arington has tied Jim Rhode (1987-88) at 68 steals for the 3rd most steals in ISU history in a single-season. Arington sits at 107 career steals, needing just two more steals to tie Chris Hanson (2012-15) & Jeff Gardner (2003-05) for 10th on the ISU All-Time Steals list at 109.
Miguel Tomley has also etched his name into the ISU single-season record books. As Tomley has now made 70 three-pointers on the season, moving him into 8th place All-Time in a single-season.
Idaho State finished the game shooting 46.8 percent from the field, and 28.6 percent from three-point territory, going 6-of-21 from behind the arc. The Bengals tallied 15 assists, 34 rebounds, and 10 steals.
Northern Arizona finished the game shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 30 percent from three-point land (7-for-20). The Lumberjacks finished the game with 38 rebounds, 8 steals, and 11 assists.
The Bengals men's basketball team will have their final game of the season in Reed Gym this Saturday, March 2nd at 6 pm vs Northern Colorado for Senior Night as the Bengals honor their lone senior, graduate student, Brayden Parker.