Hairbreadth Win By Idaho Has Coach’s Wife Dancing

One suspected this was a big game when Linda Cravens, wife of Idaho men’s basketball coach Joe Cravens, began dancing during timeouts and whistling and screaming her lungs out when play resumed.

The Vandals gave her, her husband and the 1,550 noisy viewers at Memorial Gym something to cheer about with a 71-70 upset over Big Sky Conference leader Weber State on Saturday afternoon.

In the process, UI wrapped up a berth in the Big Sky Tournament, sent off its three seniors with a thrilling victory in their final home game and saw one of those seniors, the uncanny Mark Leslie, graduate from being a go-to player to a been-there, done-that type.

Leslie’s 3-pointer with 1:50 left provided the game’s final points. His bucket with 4 seconds left on Thursday had given UI a 77-76 win over Northern Arizona.

“Mark could go 0 for 30, but with the game on the line, he’ll hit it,” said UI senior guard Ben Johnson, whose 13 points complemented Shawn Dirden’s 17 and Leslie’s 23.

UI survived a 24-point, eight-assist barrage from muscular Weber State guard Rueben Nembhard. He went searching for assist No. 9 in the closing seconds but was denied.

Nembhard encountered a double team as he drove baseline. His pass inside ricocheted off a sea of hands beyond the 3-point stripe.

Weber guard Lewis Lofton snatched the ball, turned to face the basket and rushed up a 24-footer that hit backboard and rim, but no net as the buzzer sounded.

“It was just a real hard pass,” said Nembhard, who was as gracious afterward as he was dazzling during the game. “I should have taken my time and thrown a softer pass.”

Idaho’s win snapped Weber State’s eightgame winning streak. UI had lost seven straight in this series, including three consecutive Wildcat wins in the Kibbie Dome. UI was bounced from the Dome on Saturday by the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, and Memorial Gym again proved to be a comfortable second home. UI has won 15 straight in the ancient gym.

The Vandals needed a bit of luck to hang on. With 1:30 left, Nembhard received an inbounds pass and carelessly stepped over the midcourt line for an over-and-back violation. In the final minute, WSU’s Jimmy DeGraffenried’s 7-foot banker swirled the rim before falling off. And UI endured the anxious closing seconds after Johnson, an 84-percent foul shooter, missed a one-and-one with 11 seconds remaining.

Cravens figured the Vandals were past due for receiving a little luck.

“After (crushing losses to) Boise, Idaho State last weekend, somewhere along the line those close games kind of even out,” he said.

“We got two one-pointers this week, so maybe they do kind of even out. I was hoping they evened out while I was still coach at Idaho and not while I was coaching at Potlatch.”

UI trailed 33-24 in the first half before - surprise! - a Leslie 3-pointer and hanging layup.

WSU (10-3 Big Sky, 17-8 overall) rallied behind guard Bryan Emery and Nembhard, whose layin gave the Wildcats a 70-68 edge with 2:45 left.

Leslie responded with the decisive 3-pointer, one of 11 3s for the Vandals.

The parents of UI’s seniors Leslie, Johnson and reserve guard Todd Spike - were in attendance. Leslie had the additional support of his brother and grandmother.” said Leslie, whose parents hadn’t seen him play since his final high school game in Milwaukee, Wis.

Care for an encore, Mark? UI (6-6, 12-12) visits Montana State on Friday and Montana on Saturday. Leslie swallowed up Montana with a last-second 3-pointer last year and he hit the key buckets in a win at Bozeman as well.

A repeat would probably be enough to keep Linda Cravens dancing.

“I’m sweating,” she said, happily.

Idaho 71, Weber St. 70

WEBER STATE (17-8)

K. Smith 3-8 2-2 8, Lofton 1-7 0-0 2, Lentfer 5-9 2-2 12, Nembhard 10-16 2-3 24, DeGraffenried 4-8 4-4 15, Emery 3-5 0-0 7, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Tebbs 0-1 0-0 0, Nielsen 1-1 0-0 2, A. Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 10-11 70.

IDAHO (12-12)

Dirden 6-11 2-2 17, Harrison 3-7 0-3 6, Gardner 4-7 0-0 8, Johnson 5-9 0-1 13, Leslie 6-13 6-7 23, Baumann 0-1 0-0 0, Spike 1-1 2-2 4, Coates 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 10-15 71.

Halftime-Weber St. 37, Idaho 36. 3-Point goals-Weber St. 6-15 (DeGraffenried 3-5, Nembhard 2-4, Emery 1-3, Lofton 0-3), Idaho 11-22 (Leslie 5-9, Johnson 3-6, Dirden 3-6, Baumann 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Weber St. 30 (K. Smith 10), Idaho 28 (Harrison, Gardner 10). Assists-Weber St. 12 (Nembhard 8), Idaho 14 (Harrison, Johnson, Leslie 3). Total fouls-Weber St. 16, Idaho 13. A-1,550.

MEMO: Cut in the Spokane Edition