Boxscore - HTM | PDF
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Portland, OR - The smallest man on the court had the biggest game on Saturday night. Listed at a generous 6-foot, 175-pounds, Idaho State's Ethan Telfair scored 25 points, had 11 assists and grabbed six rebounds in leading the Bengals to a 73-70 over Portland State at the Stott Center.
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Telfair led four Bengals in double figures as they moved into a tie with the Vikings in the Big Sky standings at 2-3. ISU is 7-10 on the season and PSU is now 6-10. It was the Vikings' second straight home loss.
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Portland State had trouble with Idaho State's sagging zone defense from the start. The Vikings missed 15 of their first 20 shots, making only 1-9 from three-point range. They fell behind the Bengals 22-13 after 12 minutes of play.
By halftime, the Vikings were 10-32 (.313) from the field while the Bengals were 15-32 (.469). And that was the difference in the game as ISU led 41-31. Telfair had 11 points and eight assists at the half to lead both teams in those categories.
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The Vikings largest deficit was 14 at 63-49 with 9:11 to play. But a 14-4 run over the next four minutes had Portland State within 67-63. Cameron Forte converted a three-point play at the 1:37 mark, pulling the Vikings to just a 71-68 deficit.
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PSU then had three possessions in the final minute trailing by three but couldn't come up with a big play. The Vikings missed twice on driving shots and committed a turnover on those possessions.
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Idaho State shot .517 from the field on the night, hitting 30-58. PSU improved only slightly in the second half finishing at 25-70, a .357 mark. The Vikings had only five turnovers in the game, which helped keep them in it.
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Sophomore forward Isaiah Pineiro scored 15 points, grabbed nine rebounds, had three assists and three steals for the Vikings. But he was limited to 21 minutes before fouling out.
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Freshman guard Armani Collins provided a spark off the bench with a career-high 15 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Forte added 10 points and seven boards off the bench.
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For Idaho State, Telfair made 8-18 field goals, 8-9 free throws and was in control all night. Ben Wilson had a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
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GAME NOTES: Collin Spickerman blocked four shots for the third time this season… the Vikings made only 6-28 three-point shots against the Bengals' zone (.214)... the Vikings are off until next Saturday when they play at Sacramento State. That game tips off at 7 p.m. Live video, audio and stats will be available at GoViks.com.
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