The Bengal Sports Staff
Men’s Basketball:
ISU 101, Montana State 78
A career-high of 33 points from Jared Stutzman and record-tying 17 3-pointers gave the men’s basketball team a 101-78 win over Montana State Thursday evening.
The win gives ISU a 14-14 record and a 9-8 mark in the conference. ISU is a guaranteed a .500 record or better in conference for only the third time in the last nine years.
Geno Luzcando had a season-high 22 points and was 9-of-12 from the field. Brandon Boyd had 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals while Balint Mocsan had 14 points and five rebounds.
Idaho State shot 54 percent from the field and 53 percent from the three-point line.
Montana 75, ISU 64
Montana’s biggest lead of the game was 11 points.
Brandon Boyd had 19 points to lead the ISU scoring. Balint Mocsan had 13 points while Jared Stutzman and Novak Topalovic each had 10 points. Geno Luzcando finished with eight points, a team-high seven rebounds and five assists.
The Bengals were out rebounded 45-27. ISU was only 5-of-7 from the free throw line while Montana was 18-24. Michael Oguine led Montana with 22 points and 15 rebounds.
Idaho State made a run to cut the Montana lead to 48-46 with 12:30 left in the game but that would the closest the Bengals would get the rest of the way.
The Bengals will play Southern Utah in the first round of the Big Sky Conference championship on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. mountain time. The Bengals earned the seventh seed in the tournament with the 9-9 record.
Women’s Basketball:
Montana State 61, ISU 60
ISU finished with three players in double figures, led by Saylair Grandon with 15. Grace Kenyon added 14, surpassing 1,000 total career points in the process, while Sai Tapasa chipped in 11. The Bengals won the rebounding battle 32-27 and outscored the Bobcats in the paint, 36-28.
The game was tied with 2:52 remaining (54-all). ISU outscored the Bobcats 5-1 over the next 2:20, including a three-point play from Delaney Moore, to take a four-point lead (59-55) with 27 seconds remaining.
Montana State hit a jumper to cut ISU’s lead to one, 60-59, with nine seconds remaining. Idaho State advanced the ball, and upon inbounding the ball, MSU’s Squire stole the pass and found Hannah Caudill who finished the fast break layup to take the 61-60 lead. ISU’s final attempt fell short, giving the Bobcats the 61-60 final win.
ISU 72, Montana 60
The women’s basketball team finished with four players in double figures led by junior forward Grace Kenyon with 17 points, going 7-of-7 from the field and including 1-of-1 from three. Brooke Blair followed with 14 points and Dora Goles with 11 points.
Montana went on a 6-0 run to open the fourth quarter with no response from the Bengals until a jumper from Delaney Moore with 6:28 to play. The Grizzlies would shoot 57 percent from the field 21 points, twice cutting ISU’s lead to seven in the final four minutes. ISU shot 41.7 percent from the floor for 16 points to hold off UM’s late run for the 72-60 Senior Night win.
Men’s Tennis:
BYU 6, ISU 1
The Idaho State men’s tennis team battled the No. 48 BYU Cougars before falling 6-1 Saturday afternoon at the Indoor Tennis Courts at BYU.
Idaho State (3-6) lost the doubles point to the Cougars as BYU won 6-4 at both the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles positions. In singles play, the Bengals battled BYU (9-1), forcing tiebreakers at two positions and forcing three sets at No. 1 singles. David Felix was the lone Bengal to pick up a singles win, defeating BYU’s Jeffrey Hsu 6-3, 7-6(7-4) at No. 2 singles.
Women’s Tennis:
Washington 7, ISU 0
The Idaho State women’s tennis team fell 7-0 to Washington State at the Sports Academy and Raquet Club in Logan, Utah. It marks just the first time this season that the Bengals have been swept 7-0.
Idaho State (3-6) lost the doubles point early as Washington State’s (11-1) Barbora Michalkova and Melisa Ates defeated Louise-Mare Botes and Huibre-Mare Botes 6-0. The Cougars followed it up with a 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles to take the doubles point.
In singles play, the Bengals fell in two sets at each position. Louise-Mare Botes nearly forced a third set, but fell 6-2, 7-6(1) to WSU’s Guzal Yusupova.
ISU 6, Southern Utah 1
The Idaho State women’s tennis team handled Southern Utah 6-1 Saturday morning at the Reed Gym Tennis Courts to remain undefeated in Big Sky Conference play.
In doubles play, Idaho State (4-6, 2-0 BSC) swept all three matches to take the doubles point early. In singles play, the Bengals defeated Southern Utah (4-5, 0-1 BSC) at the Nos. 2 through 5 positions in two sets, and Angela Walker picked up ISU’s final singles win at No. 6 with a three-set victory over Mikala Lowrance, 3-6, 6-3, 10-5.
