POCATELLO, Idaho — The CSUB men's basketball team overcame a shaky start then never trailed in the second half en route to an 82–79 win at Idaho State Monday night in Reed Gym.
The win was the 100th career victory for CSUB Head Coach Keith Brown, and his 59th at the Roadrunner helm. He can chalk this one up to his starters, who accounted for 81 of the team's 82 points.
Senior forward Trent Blakley (Alta Loma HS) nailed a season–high five three pointers as part of his team–high 20 points. The Roadrunners also got an 18–point, 12–rebound double–double from senior forward Santwon Latunde (Landover, Md./Cowley County CC), 17 points and a career–high seven assists from freshman swingman Stephon Carter (Garces HS) and a career–high 15 points from freshman guard Marcus Hall (Bakersfield Christian HS).
Demetrius Monroe came off the bench to lead Idaho State (7–19 overall) with 24 points and 12 boards.
The game didn't start out on a promising note as Idaho State opened the game on a 9–2 run. But trading runs proved to be a theme Monday night, and six minutes and a 17–6 run later, CSUB held a 19–15 lead of its own.
The Bengals bounced right back with an 11–2 run for a 26–21 lead. Their advantage had grown to eight points inside the final three minutes of the first half when, with Blakley, Latunde and Carter all in foul trouble, prospects looked dim for the Roadrunners.
Blakley came back to take over the game at that point, however, using a traditional three–point play and a pair of long three–pointers—the last with four seconds remaining—to spearhead a 14–2 CSUB run to give the 'Runners a 44–40 lead at the half.
The second half script mirrored the first half, except this time CSUB never relinquished the lead. Idaho State came back from eight points down to tie the game at 51–51 early in the period. The 'Runners built their lead back to 10 points inside of five minutes to go before the Bengals twice closed to within a single point in the final 70 seconds.
Clinging to a 76–75 lead, Carter nailed on tough shot in the lane to make it 78–75 with 40 seconds left. A pair of Amorrow Morgan free throws made it a one–point game again with 31 seconds to play, when the 'Runners not only broke the Idaho State pressure, but they avoided being fouled as they worked the ball to Latunde for a layup and an 80–77 lead.
The Bengals had one last chance to tie, but Carter blocked Mike Lacy's three–point attempt from the left corner. Latunde grabbed the rebound and Donavan Bragg (Inglewood/Serra HS) iced the game with a fastbreak layup.
CSUB (7–18 overall) concludes its two–game swing through Idaho with a Wednesday night game at Boise State.
