BASKETBALL SEASON RECAPS

Madeline Leavitt

Sports Editor

Both ISU men’s and women’s basketball teams closed out their seasons last week in Reno during the Big Sky Conference tournament.

The men finished with a record of 14-16 and were 9-9 in Big Sky play. The Bengals saw their season come to an end with a loss to Southern Utah in the opening round of the tournament.

The women finished 21-11 and were 11-7 in conference play. After an improbable 25-point come-from-behind overtime victory over Weber State in the quarterfinals, the Bengals lost to Northern Colorado in the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Bears would go on to win the women’s tournament while Montana won the men’s side, giving both a birth in the NCAA tournament.

Men’s Basketball:

14-16 (9-9)

The men’s basketball team had a rough 0-5 start to the season before getting its first win against Bethesda, 92-71, at Holt Arena. The Bengals would then win their next three games, all of which were at Holt Arena.

Once back on the road, the men would not be able to continue the winning streak losing, 85-71 to BYU, before going on a four-game winning streak where three of the four teams were Big Sky Conference foes.

Continuing the hot and cold play of the season, the Bengals would lose their next three conference games to North Dakota, Northern Colorado and Portland State.

In its final two home games of the season, ISU clinched the first ever Battle of the Domes title when Brandon Boyd nailed a game-winning trey in the game’s final moments. ISU lost to Eastern Washington on senior night, 64-69, and the Bengals said goodbye to seniors Hayes Garrity, Erik Nakken, Kyle Ingram and Geno Luzcando

ISU would finish out the regular season on the road, picking up a 101-78 win over Montana State, but fell to Montana, 75-64.

Going into Reno, the Bengals were 14-15 overall and 9-9 in conference play, this placed them as the 7th seed for the Big Sky Conference tournament, giving them an opening round matchup against 10th-ranked Southern Utah. The Bengals fell to SUU 76-68. ISU shot 44.1 percent from the field, 17.6 percent from behind the arc and 59.1 percent from the free throw line.

ISU had 44 points in the paint, nine points off turnovers, and five bench points. Boyd and Luzcando would lead the Bengals with 22 and 21 points, respectively.

Women’s Basketball:

21-11 (11-7)

After losing their first game Northwest Nazarene, the Bengals went on to win four in a row, including a win over Washington, who was ranked 25th in the nation at the time of the win. 

The Bengals went 21-11 in the 2017-18 season. Nine of those wins were at home, 10 were on the road and two were on a neutral floor. 

Conference play went back and forth for ISU, but the Bengals obtained more wins than loses going, 11-7 in conference play.

In their final two home games, the Bengals split with Montana State and Montana. The Bengals lost to MSU by one, 61-60, but beat Montana 72-60 on senior night.

The Bengals went into the conference tournament as the 5th seed and faced Southern Utah in the opening round.

ISU beat SUU, 59-49, shooting 45.7 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from behind the arc, and 71.4 percent from the charity stripe.

The Bengals had 18 points in the paint, 16 points off turnovers, and 22 bench points. ISU found it’s largest lead of the game in the 2nd quarter at 16 points.

Heading into the quarterfinals, ISU would take on Weber State. The Bengals were 0-2 against the Wildcats in the regular season, but beat Weber State 113-109 in the tournament.

ISU had a rough start to the game and trailed by 21 at halftime.

Coming out of the locker room, the Bengals were not able to convert and Weber would find its largest lead of the game at 25 points. But after that, the Bengals were able to gain some traction and cut the lead to 12 points as the game entered its final frame. 

In the 4th quarter, the Bengals took a four-point lead, but Weber made a couple late shots and forced overtime.

Once ISU found its overtime lead, they maintained it, finishing out play with a layup from Dora Goles to get the overtime victory, 113-109.

The 113 points broke the school record for points in a single game, which was 108 points, back in 1982. Saylair Grandon had a career-high 28 points in the game and five other Bengals also finished in double figures.

After a day break, the Bengals faced top-seeded Northern Colorado in the semifinals. The Bengals would fall to the Bears, 73-66.

The Bears led the entire game and similar to the Weber game, the Bengals would find their stride in the second half, cutting the Bears lead to five, but the Bengals were unable to stop the number one seed, ending their season.