CALDWELL, Idaho – Metro State used a 23-8 edge in offensive rebounds to score 19 second-chance points, as the Roadrunners outlasted the College of Idaho 55-45 in a defense struggle in the title game of the Domino's Classic inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
Box Score MSU (2-2) answered an 8-0 C of I run midway through the half with seven-straight points to take the lead for good, snapping the Yotes 37-game home win streak.
The Roadrunners opened the second half on a 14-4 run, with a Brian Howard triple giving the visitors a 33-24 lead six minutes into the period. The Yotes (4-3) countered with treys from
Dominique Jordan and
Emanuel Morgan, followed by a driving Morgan lay-up to even the score at 35-35.
MSU used their size advantage to pull away, as Bounama Keita tipped home a miss, Tony Dobbinson had an offensive board and a bucket, and Enrique Cortes Zotes canned a 3-pointer to extend the margin to 42-35. C of I got within 46-41 on a pair of
Joey Nebeker free throws, but could not get closer.
The first half was a battle of attrition, as the two teams combined to miss their first 17 shots, with MSU scoring the first points of the game over five minutes into the period. The Yotes would trail 6-2 at the 10-minute mark before eight-straight Nebeker points gave C of I a 10-8 lead, with back-to-back
Dominique Jordan 3's giving the hosts a 20-19 edge at the half.
Dobbinson led MSU with 16 points, with Cortes Zotes scoring 10 points and adding 11 rebounds. The Roadrunners won despite making just 33-percent of their field goals, but held a 49-28 edge in rebounds and outscored C of I 17-4 off turnovers.
Nebeker led the Yotes with 16 points and seven rebounds; Jordan had nine points; both Morgan and
Aitor Zubizarreta scored seven; and
Marck Coffin added six points and nine rebounds in the loss.
C of I continues a 6-game homestand on Tuesday, hosting Northwest Nazarene in the second half of the United Heritage Mayors' Cup Series.
NOTES: It was the Yotes first home setback under
Scott Garson and the first in 1,004 days, dating back to February of 2013 – with the 37-game win streak the second-longest in program history (C of I won 56-straight home games from 1983-87); the 19 first half points by MSU was the fewest by a C of I opponent since the Yotes held Northwest Christian to 13 points during the 2011-12 season; MSU outscored the C of I bench 24-0 in the win.
