Idaho State Tops UNC; Both Teams 1-1

Northern Colorado had a great chance to move to 2-0 in the Big Sky on Monday night, as they had a home game against Idaho State, a team most expect to finish at the bottom of the Big Sky. Instead, their youthful inconsistency showed through again, as Idaho State won 57-55, evening both team's conference record to 1-1.

“For some reason we came out flat but we just kept grinding away and we were able to get ourselves back in the game and finish it off,” Idaho State Interim Head Coach Deane Martin said. “If you can just stay in games and keep grinding away you will have a chance to win games.”

Chase Grabau was the star once again for the Bengals, as he is getting better as the season goes on. He followed up his big game against Weber State by scoring 18 points, dishing out 6 assists, and grabbing 3 rebounds, while playing all 40 minutes. He is slowly becoming one of the better, more versatile guys in the Big Sky.

Kenny McGowen (16 points) and Melvin Morgan (11 points) joined Grabau in double figures, as the team shot 48% from the field.

For UNC, they were plagued by turnovers, as well as an ankle injury to guard Tate Unruh. He played just 7 minutes before leaving with a left ankle injury (no word on severity), which hurt them a lot, as he has been a key guy for them.

The Bears shot 50% from the field, but turned it over 17 times. Mike Proctor scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but added 7 turnovers. Guard Paul Garnica also turned it over 6 times. UNC jumped out to an 11-2 lead in this game, but ISU outscored them 55-44 the rest of the way. The Bears had a chance to tie in the closing seconds, but Elliott Lloyd missed a driving layup, and Tim Huskisson was unable to put it back in at the buzzer.

The Bengals improve to 3-10 overall, 1-1 in the BSC, while Northern Colorado drops to 4-9, 1-1 in the conference.

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