Bengal Men Continue To Struggle
By Idaho State Athletics
Idaho State battled Weber State touch before falling 70-63 Saturday on the Idaho Central Credit Union Court inside Holt Arena.
Jeffrey Solarin led the way with his ninth double-double of the season, pouring in 16 points and a season high 15 rebounds. The mark is the most by an ISU player this year.
The Bengals (5-18, 2-9) took a 16-14 lead with 8:57 left in the first half thanks to two consecutive three-point shots by Chris Hansen and Nnamdi Ezenwa . That advantage was short-lived as the Wildcats (10-12, 5-6) came back to take a 32-27 halftime lead.
Late in the second half, the Bengals cut the gap to one point on four different occasions and trailed 65-63 with 52 seconds left in the game. Weber State’s Richaud Gittens then hit a 3-pointer to seal the fate for ISU with 22 seconds left in the game.
“It was real frustrating to know we tried to do everything we could to put ourselves in a position to win but we kept fouling and giving up cheap fouls,” Solarin said. “They are a good basketball team and they executed when they needed too.”
The Bengals went to the free throw line 23 times but only made 13 while Weber State made 21-of-26 attempts, all coming in the second half.
“I think we have played pretty well for long stretches of a lot of games,” Coach Evans said. “We need to play longer stretches I guess.”
Chris Hansen led the Bengals with 22 points and he was four-of-six from the three-point line.
“They both played really good,” Coach Evans said on Hansen and Solarin. “I feel bad for them. They deserve better. They have great integrity and are great kids. On Thursday night they will come out and play just as hard as they did tonight . That is the way they do things.”
The Bengals shot 47.8 percent and outscored the Wildcats 28-16 in the paint. Weber State shot 43.8 percent from the field and ISU out rebounded the Wildcats 33-28.
Idaho State takes on Northern Arizona Thursday, Feb 12th at 7 p.m. inside Holt Arena.
Notes: Chris Hansen moved into 13th place on the ISU all-time scoring list with his 22 points. He now has 1,206 pointsand needs 16 points to pass Ron Boone (1965-68) and Amorrow Morgan (2006-10) to move into 11th place. Hansen has made 209 career 3-pointers and needs three to pass David Schroeder’s 211 to move into first place.
– Solarin’s nine double-doubles is the most in the Big Sky Conference.
