Vandals stumble on road again
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The University of Idaho Vandals let another road opportunity slip away when Long Beach State, previously winless in Big West games, rallied in the final seconds of Thursday night’s game to win 53-52 at the Pyramid.
After trailing by as many as 11 points midway through the second half, the Vandals charged back to take periodic one-point leads as the game headed into the final minutes. With the clock ticking down to the final 60 seconds, Anton Lyons followed a Dandrick Jones miss to give the Vandals a 52-50 lead.
The 49ers’ next trip downcourt resulted in Jibril Hodges’ miss, with the rebound going to Lyons. The Vandals were successful in letting the clock wind down before Tanoris Shepard launched from the perimeter to avoid a shot-clock violation. On the rebound, with 15.7 seconds remaining, Lyons fouled Onye Ibekwe.
Ibekwe made the first of the bonus shots to cut the lead to 52-51. He missed the second and Lyons pulled down the rebound – then traveled. Hodges drove for the winning layup that dropped through with :08 to play.
The Vandals’ last chance wound up in the hands of Shepard who was fouled with 2.9 seconds left. His miss of the first left the Vandals with but one league win on the road in the past two seasons.
“We can’t step out there and shoot free throws for them,” Vandals coach Leonard Perry said. “That’s the story.
“No excuses.”
Jones finished with 21 points and six rebounds. Lyons had 11 points and 10 rebounds to enable the Vandals to hold a slight, 37-36, edge on the boards.
As a team, the Vandals shot 36.2 percent from the field – 21.4 from 3-point range – in contrast to 41.9 percent for the 49ers.
Long Beach St. 53, Idaho 52
Idaho (7-12, 5-3)–Jones 9-16 2-3 21, Lyons 4-13 3-4 11, Davos 1-3 0-0 2, Haynes 3-6 0-0 8, Shepard 3-12 0-1 6, Higdon 0-3 0-0 0, Bowden-Key 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-1 2-2 2, Kahrimanovic 1-3 0-0 3, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Kale 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 21-58 7-11 52.
Long Beach State (3-15, 1-7)–Ibekwe 3-7 6-11 12, Jenkins 2-6 1-2 6, Byrd 1-1 0-0 2, Hodges 4-10 2-3 10, Pearson 2-4 1-4 5, Hawkins 6-12 4-6 16, Houston 0-2 0-2 0, Free 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 18-43 16-30 53.
Halftime–Long Beach State 31, Idaho 26. 3-point goals–Idaho 1-9 (Jenkins 1-3, Houston 0-1, Hawkins 0-2, Hodges 0-3), Long Beach State 3-14 (Haynes 2-3, Jones 1-3, Kahrimanovic 0-1, Higdon 0-2, Shepard 0-5). Fouled out–None. Rebounds–Idaho 37 (Lyons 10), Long Beach State 36 (Ibekwe 11). Assists–Idaho 5 (Shepard 3), Long Beach State 8 (Hodges, Houston 2). Total fouls–Idaho 1, Long Beach State 17. A–1,372.