POCATELLO — It’s a terrible rerun of the same ending. It’s a nightmare, really. And Idaho State can’t wake up from it.
The Bengals will put themselves in a position to win. It will be right there for the taking. But things never seem to go right in the final minutes.
Like Saturday night when Weber State capitalized at the free throw line and hit a clutch 3-pointer to upend Idaho State 70-63 in front of 1,892 fans in Holt Arena.
“A lot of bad movies,” said Bengals coach Bill Evans. “Too many.”
ISU trailed Weber for much of the night and was down 62-55 with 4:05 left in the game.
Like they do most nights, the Bengals rallied. Jeffrey Solarin nailed a layup. Chris Hansen downed two free throws and converted a couple layins to whittle the deficit down to 65-63 with 53 seconds remaining.
It was a disaster from that point forward.
Weber State took a timeout, worked the ball around the perimeter against ISU’s zone defense and found Richaud Gittens wide open from the arc. The sophomore was 1 for 7 from the field. But Gittens calmly launched the 3-pointer and buried it.
Weber State led by five with 22 seconds left. An ISU turnover on the other end sealed the Bengals’ fate.
Idaho State falls to 2-9 in the Big Sky Conference and 5-18 overall.
“He was pretty open,” said Bengals coach Bill Evans on Gittins’ 3-pointer from the left wing. “I don’t know exactly what happened.”
Gittins’ three was the dagger, but what hurt Idaho State more than anything was foul shooting.
Weber State went 21 for 26 from the line. ISU finished 13 for 23. Every one of the Wildcats’ trips to the charity stripe were in the second half.
“We have to make our free throws. It’s been our Achilles’ heel all season,” Solarin said. “It hurt us today.”
Weber sophomore Jeremy Senglin scored a career-high 30 points on eight shots. The 6-foot-2 guard was 14 for 15 at the line.
“They made a lot of their free throws,” Solarin said. “Credit to them. They’re a good basketball team. They executed when they needed to.”
The Wildcats lived at the foul line. They had to because they shot 33 percent from the floor in the second half and were held to seven field goals. Whenever Weber State had to have points, Senglin, Gittins or 6-9 center Joel Bolomboy would power their way to the rim, and the whistles were ever present.
“They shot 26 free throws in the second half,” Evans said. “My best player shoots six. Their best player shoots 15. I want to know what the difference is.”
Apart from the disparity in free throws, Idaho State had all the components to beat the Wildcats.
Solarin scored 16 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for his Big Sky-leading ninth double-double of the season. Senior guard Nnamdi Ezenwa complemented Solarin and Hansen in scoring with 10 points.
ISU shot a better percentage from the field than Weber, outscored the Wildcats in the paint and had better scoring off the bench.
But none of it was enough.
Ultimately, Weber State (10-12, 5-6 Big Sky) handed the Bengals their third straight loss and seventh in the last eight games.
Idaho State is a game ahead of last-place Montana State and 2.5 behind eighth-place Idaho with seven games left in the season.
The Bengals host Northern Arizona and Southern Utah next week.
“We can’t dwell on anything,” Solarin said. “Our backs are not even against the wall. They’re in the wall and we need to find some ways to get ourselves out of it.”
Hansen layup and the foul. Misses free throw. 63-61 Weber with 1:04 to go #BigSkyMBB #goisu https://t.co/SMi2QVi4QM
— Kyle Franko (@ByKyleFranko) February 8, 2015Solarin bucket and the foul, trims Weber lead to 62-57. 2:47 left #BigSkyMBB #goisu https://t.co/I4RW5CWWTh
— Kyle Franko (@ByKyleFranko) February 8, 20153-pointer for a $1,000 #GoISU love the showmanship https://t.co/HOwmuBPEvT
— Kyle Franko (@ByKyleFranko) February 8, 2015Weber 35, Idaho St 33 #BigSkyMBB #goisu Bolomboy fouled on missed dunk https://t.co/pMfhIYqp5J
— Kyle Franko (@ByKyleFranko) February 8, 2015// ]]>
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In