The Bengal Sports Staff
Men’s Basketball:
ISU 86, hIdaho 83
ISU beat Idaho 86-83 thanks to a 3-pointer by Brandon Boyd with two seconds left in the game. Boyd had a career-high 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting. He was 6-of-8 from the three-point line, 4-of-4 from the foul line. He had five assists and played the entire 40 minutes.
Boyd’s game winning 3-pointer came after U of I’s Victor Sanders hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 83 with 13 seconds left in the game.
The Bengals led for nearly the entire game and shot 51.8 percent from the field. ISU was 16-of-27 from the three-point line and made 12-of-16 from the foul line.
Balint Mocsan had 18 points and made six 3-pointers on nine attempts. Jared Stutzman had 17 points and was 6-of-9 from the field. Geno Luzcando had 10 points and eight rebounds while Novak Topalovic scored nine points and had 11 rebounds.
E. Washington 74, ISU 69
The men’s basketball team made a second-half rally before falling to Eastern Washington 74-69 on Saturday night in Reed Gym.
The Bengals trailed 38-25 at halftime but shot 69.6 percent from the field in the second half to get back in the game and take a 69-68 lead with 2:01 to play following a Balint Mocsan 3-pointer.
Eastern Washington’s Bogdan Bliznyuk then hit a 3-pointer to give Eastern a 71-69 lead. The Bengals were unable to convert on the offensive end, allowing the Eagles to earn the victory.
Brandon Boyd had a game-high 23 points while Novak Topalovic had 17 points and five rebounds. Geno Luzcando had 13 points and four assists. The Bengals shot 54.2 percent for the game and was 10-19 from the three-point line.
Eastern Washington shot 48.4 percent from the field and was led in scoring by Bliznyuk’s 17 points and eight rebounds.
Women’s Basketball:
ISU 62, Idaho 52
The women’s basketball team upended Idaho 62-52 Thursday evening to snap the Vandals’ conference-best nine game win streak. The Bengals limited Idaho to nearly 23 points below its season average of 74.4 points per-game.
Three players finished in double-figures for the Bengals, led by junior forward Grace Kenyon with a near double-double of 17 points and eight rebounds. Saylair Grandon finished with 14 points, including 10 in the first half, while senior guard Brooke Blair chipped in 12.
E. Washington 66, ISU 64
ISU opened the fourth with back-to-back buckets from Grace Kenyon and Estefania Ors to extend ISU’s lead to 16 (60-44) with 8:17 remaining. But ISU went ice cold from the field, missing its next seven field goal attempts while committing three turnovers. Eastern Washington put together a 16-0 run to lead 62-60 with 2:55 remaining.
ISU was led in scoring by Brooke Blair who finished with a game-high 19 points. Both Ors and Sai Tapasa each chipped in 12 points while sophomore guard Dora Goles finished with a career-high seven assists, seven points and four rebounds.
Eastern Washington’s Uriah Howard found Cunningham in the paint, giving the Eagles a two-point edge, 66-64, with 41 seconds remaining. Idaho State was unable to convert on its final opportunities, giving EWU the 66-64 win.
Men’s Tennis
Montana State 4, ISU 3
The men’s tennis team fell to visiting Montana State 4-3 Saturday afternoon at the Reed Gym Tennis Courts. The Bengals claimed the doubles point, but the Bobcats won four singles matches to earn the 4-3 victory.
ISU opened doubles play with a win as Peter Trhac and David Felix defeated Rok Sitar and Alexander Flink of Montana State (2-5, 2-0 BSC) 6-2. Keegan Sullivan and Francis Filipovich sealed the doubles point for the Bengals with a 6-4 win over Joaquim Espinoza and Mateus Ceolin at No. 3 doubles.
Women’s Tennis:
ISU 4, Portland State 3
The women’s tennis team snapped its four-match losing streak with a big 4-3 win at Portland State Saturday afternoon. After dropping the doubles point early, the Bengals battled for four singles wins to capture their first Big Sky win.
Portland State bested ISU in doubles, picking up at 6-3 win at No. 2 doubles followed by a 6-3 win at No. 1 doubles to take the doubles point.
After ISU dropped a 6-1, 6-0 decision at No. 3 singles, ISU’s Megan Poe gave the Bengals their first singles win of the afternoon with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 4. Portland State responded as Taylor Rees bested Angela Walker 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4 singles, but ISU won each of the final three singles matches to claim the win. Huibre-Mare Botes defeated Alli Valk 6-2, 6-2 while Louise-Mare Botes bested Eszter Zador 6-3, 6-4. Madison Fenske finished the comeback win with a 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles.
Softball
New Mexico State 18, ISU 0
The softball team lost 18-0 to New Mexico State in five innings in the first day of a tournament hosted by UTEP.
The Bengals gave up five runs in the first inning, seven in the third, two in the fourth and four in the fifth inning. ISU gave up 19 hits and had two errors.
ISU had only two hits, one from Ames and Aubrey Creekmore.
New Mexico State 8, ISU 3
The Aggies led 5-0 after two innings and maintained the lead until ISU scored two in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Kelsey Breer doubled to center field and went to third on a passed ball. She later scored on an error. Ames drove in Harrison with a two-out single to give ISU their second run of the inning.
New Mexico State scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. ISU scored one run in the top of the seventh.
New Mexico State 8, ISU 4
ISU jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the second inning. In the first inning, Emma Bordenkecher connected on a two-out single to center field. Ames followed with a single and Makenzie VanSickle drove in Bordenkecher on a single to right.
In the second inning, Frankie Tago started the scoring with a one-out single to left. Shayna Dahlen then reached on an Aggie error. Later in the inning with two outs, Harrison had an infield RBI single and Dahlen would steal home for the second run.
New Mexico State scored three runs in the third and one in the top of the fifth inning to take a 4-3 lead.
The Bengals tied the game at four when Breer led off with a double to right field and she later scored on an RBI single from Bordenkecher.
The Aggies would add three runs in the sixth and one in the seventh to earn the victory.
UTEP 4, ISU 2
ISU had six hits but had three errors in the field while the Miners scored their four runs on nine hits and two errors.
UTEP led 2-0 after the first inning. ISU tied the game at two in the top of the third inning. Cassidy FitzGerald led off with a single to center field and after a sacrifice bunt by Shayna Dahlen, one batter later Haley Harrison was hit by a pitch that set up Bordenkecher’s triple to right-center.
The Miners countered in the bottom of the third with two runs to take the 4-2 lead. The Bengals committed two errors in the field in the inning.
UTEP 9, ISU 0
UTEP scored six in the third and two in the fourth. Tha game only lasted five innings. Harrison had two of the four hits for the Bengals. VanSickle and Tago each had one hit.
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field
Daniel Garz won the 800-meter. After a second-place finish last season, Garz was able to win the first indoor title in a distance race for the Bengal men since Eric Strand won the 800-meter back in 2011. Garz led the entire race and finished with a time of 1:51.79.
On the women’s side freshman Jessica Swannack took eighth in the pole vault.
The men’s team finished ninth overall while the women finished in 12th.
