Trevor Delaney

Sports Editor

The Idaho State University men’s basketball team faced off against the Portland State Vikings Thursday night in Portland with a close game that resulted in the Bengals winning with 64 points to Portland’s 57.

The night started off with a five-point lead by Idaho State in the first half with a 30-25 score.

The second half was even closer than the first, with a two-point spread between Idaho’s 34 and Portland’s 32 points respectively.

Idaho State Junior and Idaho native Emmit Taylor III shot an impressive four out of four three-point shots during Thursday night’s game, adding 12 points to the scoreboard.

Austin Smellie brought another 13 points to the Bengals with an additional set of three three-pointers and four free throws. Robert Ford III also added another nine points to the Bengal’s final win over Portland, combined with Malik Porter’s eight-point addition.

The most impressive scorer of the night was senior Tarik Cool, who scored 17 points for the Bengals.

Finishing off with a seven-point lead over Portland, Idaho State ended the night with an 8-6 lead in total season play and a 5-2 lead in Big Sky play.

Thursday night’s victory was seemingly short-lived when the Bengals faced the Vikings again on Saturday, with Portland upsetting the Bengals with a 69-43 win.

Reinvigorated by their loss on Thursday, the Vikings slammed the Bengals the entire game on Saturday. Idaho State put up a decent fight to the onslaught of well-calculated plays by Portland, but couldn’t muster the necessary passion needed to sink the Vikings’ ship.

Idaho trailed by eleven points in the first half, starting the second half with a 26-37 score. The second half of Saturday’s game was an even larger loss for the Bengals, with a 15 point spread resulting in Portland’s triumph.

Ford and Cool both stuck to their guns and managed to put some points on the board Saturday with Ford scoring eight free throws and Cool sinking two three-point shots. Sophomore Brayden Parker also made it onto the leaderboard for point scoring In Saturday’s game, with an impressive ten points scored to match Ford’s and Cool’s 10 point totals.

With Saturday’s game in the rearview mirror, Idaho State’s men’s basketball team is heading into the week with an 8-7 season score so far and a 5-3 score in the Big Sky. The Bengals will be back home playing at the Reed’s Gym this Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m., and again on Saturday at noon.