2008 Woodie Awards
The Bengals pounce on the Lumberjacks
Sarah Kalkwarf
Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: Sports
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With the win, the Bengals knocked the Lumberjacks out of their first-place position in the Big Sky Conference and put Idaho State in a four-way tie for first place in the loss column with NAU, Portland and Weber. The Bengals were also excited to take part in the first win against NAU during Head Coach Joe O'Brien's tenure at Idaho State.
The Bengals realize that they still have a long adventure ahead of them.
"It's not time to celebrate," said Coach O'Brien. "It's just a great win that we will enjoy tonight and tomorrow we will get back down to work."
The Bengals did not have time to panic or to begin early celebrating during the game because they were unable to predict who would win. This is because the score was tied 14 times throughout the game and the lead changed five times.
The Bengals were led by sophomore guard Amorrow Morgan who had 21 points for the game. Since four out of the five top point leaders of the game were sophomores it seems that the lower level classmen are beginning to feel comfortable in taking some of the lead.
NAU's main scorer was Kyle Landry. He scored 30 points during Sunday's game. According to Coach O'Brien, Landry is the best big man in the big sky conference. While it was frustrating for the Bengals to watch him score continuously they held it together and fought hard to win.
The officials slapped two technical fouls on Coach O'Brien, ejecting him from the game early in the second half. This only affected the team and the fans in a positive way, providing fuel to ignite the fire that, along with Assistant Coach Steve Swanson, lead the Bengals to victory.
"We got fired up when coach got that last tech and got sent out of the game," said Morgan. "We wanted to do it for him."
The stands held 2,327 energized fans that went crazy when junior Matt Stucki closed the 11-point gap with a 3-pointer around eight minutes into the second half, decreasing NAU's lead to four points, at 42-38. The crowd continued to show support when Morgan tied the game with eight minutes left with a 3-pointer which left the score at 52-52.
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