2008 Woodie Awards
Bengals lose to Portland State in spite of late lead
Nate Cuoio
Issue date: 2/22/06 Section: Sports
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The two leading scorers were Slim Millien with 19 and Schroeder with 17. Kasey Winters had a huge double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds to help nudge the Bengals to a win.
Down by 2 points, Schroeder drained a trey leaving only 7.8 seconds on the clock. This win put the Bengals at 3-8 in conference play, one game behind Weber State and two games behind Sacramento State.
The Bengal win snaps a four game losing streak to the Hornets. Five of the last six meetings between the Hornets and Bengals have been decided by two points or less. The first time these two teams met this season, the final outcome was 107-106, Sacramento State coming away victorious.
Dave Schroeder's two three pointers put him fifth on the ISU career list of three pointers. So with this momentum, ISU went into Thursday night's game at Reed Gym looking to continue their end of season playoff push against Portland State.
For the first 36 minutes of play, ISU held strong and claimed the lead after a three point play by Slim Millien with four minutes to play in the game.
However, the Bengals hit a brick wall as they were outscored 13-3 in the final four minutes. ISU scored only one free throw in six possessions, until Schroeder hit a shot with under a minute remaining. The game ended with a 80-73 loss to Portland State.
The Bengals shot themselves in the foot as they were out rebounded 42-31 overall. Sixteen of Portland State's boards were on the offensive end of the court and led to a 17-7 advantage over the Bengals in second chance points. 12 of those offensive rebounds came in the second half.
Four Bengals scored in double figures. Slim Millien led the Bengals with 19 points, David Schroeder popped in 16, Tim Henry with 12, and Kasey Winters had 11.
Slim blocked three shots, moving him into second place behind Steve Hayes on the ISU career blocks list, and two back on the single season block list.
Obviously, this loss to Portland State doesn't help the Bengals shot at a conference tournament birth; however it could be much worse. Both Weber State and Sacramento State lost as well, helping ISU's chances.
Sacramento State will clinch a playoff birth with either one more win or one more Bengal loss. The only way that ISU can clinch a spot in the tournament now is to beat Weber State and Eastern Washington; all assuming that Eastern Washington finishes ahead of Montana State in the standings.
The Bengals now have only two conference games left. On Saturday, February 25 the Bengals host Weber State, and on February 27 they'll take on Eastern Washington. Both games will tip off at 7:05 pm.
The Big Sky Conference quarterfinals will begin on March 4 and the championship will be on March 8.