ISU Bengal

Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Cody Fowers Donnie Carson, #20, doesn't let the missed shot leave the basket as he slams the ball home as the Northern Colorado defenders can only wonder where he came from.

Northern Colorado (10-13, 3-7) was on the brink of extinction in the Big Sky conference and came Pocatello in desperate need of a win against Idaho State (9-14, 6-4) on Thursday night. The Bears displayed a great balance in scoring, with five players hitting double figures as Donnie Carson's 20-point career-high (seven for 12 from the field) night was spoiled by a 76-66 Bengal loss.

Northern Colorado's up-tempo style and consistence from the field made it difficult for Idaho State to discover their game from the start. At one point, the Bears took a nine-point lead in the first half before a Donnie Carson 3-pointer ended the run.

Northern Colorado pestered the Bengals with their zone defense for the majority of the second half which eventually led to Idaho State guards settling for forced 3-point attempts. Idaho State finished the game six for 18 from behind the arc.

Sean Taibi led Northern Colorado with 16 points in nine minutes and Mason Jefferson had 11 points and eight rebounds as the Bears shot 46.9 percent for the game.

Lucas Steijn had 10 points and Amorrow Morgan finished 11 points for the Bengals.

With less than eight minutes remaining in the game, Idaho State cut the lead to 50-48 until Sean Taibi's back to back 3-pointers. The Bengals would struggle to make the game close again, as they failed in convert on handfuls of jumpers from the outside.

"In the first half I was getting touches, but I would throw it out to get shots for other people," said Matt Stucki after the game. "And in the second half I was getting good looks, but they just weren't falling. That's the funny thing about basketball."

Stucki, who left the game to get four stitches after being struck in the face, was held to just three points on one-of-7 shooting, which proved to be the difference in the Northern Colorado victory at Holt Arena.

The Bengals drop to 6-4 in the Big Sky and are currently tied with Northern Arizona for third place behind Portland State (7-2) and Weber State (6-3).

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