Justin Logan scored 14 points and David Howell added 12 Thursday night
to lead Idaho to a 63-59 Big West Conference men's basketball victory
at Cal State Fullerton. The Vandals improved to 5-11 overall and 2-5 in
the Big West.
The Titans got 17 points from Kevin Richardson and 9 points and 10 rebounds
froim Pape Sow before he fouled out but they lost their seventh game in
a row to fall to 3-12, 0-6.
Idaho shot 61 per cent from the floor in the second half after making
only 22 per cent in a first half that saw it trail, 20-19.
Idaho took the lead for good at 43-41 on a Howell layup. Marquis Holmes
hit two free throws and then made a 3-point play for a 48-41 advantage
at 2:36 and the Titans fell behind by as many as 10 points before closing
the gap to 62-59 on a Ryan Dillon 3-pointer with 8 seconds remaining.
The Vandals twice had to call time out when inbounding the ball but finally
got it to Logan, who made one of two free throws with 7 seconds left to
clinch the win, Idaho's first in Fullerton since the 1997-98 season.
Fullerton led for all but a few seconds of the low-scoring first half,
whic saw Fullerton on top, 11-10, with less than 7 minutes to go. Richardson
hit a 3-pointer and Dillon hit a pair of them for a 20-13 lead at 4:15
but the Vandals scored the final six points of the period including a
buzzer beating jumper by Jermery Turner.
Each team suited up only nine players and eight from each squad saw action.
Fullerton was weakened with the loss of senior reserve forward Josh Fischer,
who spent much of the evening at St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton for precautionary
measures after an irregular heartbeat earlier in the day.
Idaho plays at UC Riverside Saturday while the Titans host Utah State.
