BOISE, Idaho – In 2004, the College of Idaho played the first game in the newly named Taco Bell Arena and upset Boise State by 21-points. Fast-forward 13 years and the Coyotes nearly repeated the feat – leading at the midway point of the second half before the Division I Broncos used an 11-0 run to take control of a 74-69 exhibition win over the NAIA Division II foes.
BOX SCORE
The Yotes played toe-to-toe with the 2017 NIT squad, leading 35-30 at the break – outrebounding the much-taller Broncos and forcing eight turnovers in the opening 20 minutes. BSU turned to Mountain West Conference Preseason Player of the Year Chandler Hutchison, who scored 25 points, with Fordham transfer Christian Sengfelder scoring 15 points in his Bronco debut.
BSU took an early 4-2 lead on a thunderous dunk from Hutchison, but C of I countered with a 12-3 run, as
Dominic Hulsey started the surge with a triple, with a
Keun Palu-Thompson 3-point play giving the visitors a 14-7 lead. The Broncos would retake the lead on a Sengfelder put-back at 26-25, but the Yotes outscored the Broncos 10-4 over the final five minutes of the half, with a Palu-Thompson long range shot giving C of I the five-point halftime margin.
Freshman
Justin Saunders hit one of his four 3-pointers with just under 13 minutes remaining to give the Yotes a 48-44 lead, but BSU got a Robin Jorch put back, a Justinian Jessup triple and six free throws in the game-changing run. Sengfelder gave BSU their largest lead of the night at 70-58 before a final run by C of I, as 3s by Palu-Thompson, Saunders and
Aziz Leeks cut the gap to five at the horn.
Palu-Thompson led the Yotes with 25 points and four steals – as C of I forced 19 BSU turnovers. Saunders had 12 points off the bench; Leeks had 10 points and eight rebounds; with
Talon Pinckney recording nine points and five assists. The Yotes finished 11-of-28 from 3-point range.
C of I returns to action on Saturday, traveling to Spokane, Wash., to meet defending NCAA Division I national runner-up Gonzaga in a 5 p.m. (PT) exhibition game.
