Vandals fall by two at Green Bay

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Brennan Cougill set career highs with 19 points and 19 rebounds, helping Green Bay to a 63-61 victory over Idaho on Thursday.

Cougill was 6 of 10 from the field. His 19 boards were two shy of the school record, set by Nate Barnes in November 1982. Steve Baker added 13 points and Kam Cerroni had 12 for the Phoenix (6-6), who improved to 6-0 on their home court.

Junior forward Djim Bandoumel led the Vandals (7-6) with a career-high 16 points, adding five rebounds and two blocks.

“Djim was 7 for 12 and I thought all his shots were right at the basket,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “I thought we did a good job of finding our post guys down low tonight.”

Junior center Kyle Barone and Stephen Madison had 13 apiece. Barone added 12 rebounds and four blocked shots for his second straight double-double.

Idaho outscored Green Bay 36-18 in the paint.

Idaho was coming off an 80-78 loss Tuesday to Wright State, and this one was just as close at the end. Green Bay’s last field goal came with 1:44 left, but the Phoenix managed to hold on for the win.

“I thought our guys gave a heck of an effort,” Verlin said. “We had some executional errors – we turned it over 11 times in the second half and we can’t do that. The other night was free-throw shooting. Tonight it was turnovers in the second half.”

Idaho shot 43 percent from the field, but went just 3 of 10 from 3-point range.

Green Bay made a season-best nine 3-pointers on 20 attempts, but the Phoenix hit just 11 of 34 inside the 3-point line.

Idaho tied its season high by shooting 80 percent (12 for 15) on free throws.

The game featured six lead changes and four ties.

The Vandals shut down Green Bay’s top player, 7-foot-1 forward Alec Brown, who had two points, one rebound, two turnovers and four fouls in the game.

But the Phoenix stepped up, primarily Cougill.

“We had no answer for him,” Verlin said of Cougill. “He got down low and scored against our zone.”

 Idaho (7-6)—Bandoumel 7-12 2-3 16, Barone 4-10 5-6 13, Tatum 1-4 0-0 2, Madison 5-8 2-2 13, Geiger 3-5 0-0 7, Starke 1-4 0-0 2, Habeeb 1-4 3-4 5, Hill 1-3 0-0 3, McChristian 0-0 0-0 0, Borton 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-53 12-15 61.

Green Bay (6-6)—Brown 0-4 2-2 2, Cougill 6-10 6-6 19, Baker 4-5 2-4 13, Cerroni 4-7 1-3 12, Sykes 2-9 1-4 5, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Armstead 1-4 0-0 3, Mays 1-3 0-0 2, Turner 1-7 2-2 4, Heuer 1-3 0-0 3.Totals 20-54 14-21 63.

Halftime—Green Bay 32-29. 3-Point Goals—Idaho 3-10 (Geiger 1-2, Madison 1-2, Hill 1-3, Habeeb 0-1, Borton 0-2), Green Bay 9-20 (Baker 3-4, Cerroni 3-5, Cougill 1-3, Armstead 1-3, Heuer 1-3, Sykes 0-1, Turner 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Idaho 34 (Barone 12), Green Bay 35 (Cougill 19). Assists—Idaho 14 (Borton, Tatum 3), Green Bay 10 (Cerroni, Cougill 3). Total Fouls—Idaho 17, Green Bay 13. A—2,514.