Habeeb's defense helps seal Vandal win
MOSCOW - After losing four single-possession games in December, Idaho's men's basketball hung on in yet another nailbiter for a 63-59 Western Athletic Conference win over Fresno State on Saturday at the Cowan Spectrum.
In a game that never saw a double-figure lead, Idaho (8-8, 1-1 WAC) trailed for just one minute early in the game, but never led by more than seven points. The win almost slipped away by virtue of a 6-minute, 8-second field goal drought late in the game, but the Vandals knocked down a season-high 22 free throws on a season-best 88 percent shooting to make up for their shortcomings from the field.
"It wasn't perfect at the end, by any means," Idaho coach Don Verlin said. "When you've lost a ton of close games, sometimes it's really difficult and it was difficult tonight."
Still, the game came down to a single possession after Idaho sophomore Stephen Madison’s putback at 5.8 seconds gave the Vandals a 61-59 lead. Inbounding with 4.2 seconds left, the Bulldogs sent the ball in to guard Jonathan Wills, who went up for a potential game-winning 3-pointer, but Vandal junior guard Mansa Habeeb flew in, interrupted the shot and forced Wills to hold on to the ball as he came to the floor for a turnover.
Habeeb sealed it when he took the ensuing inbound pass and knocked down a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds left.
“I was going to block it if he got the shot off, but he just came down with it and we got the turnover,” Habeeb said of the defensive play. “I’m proud that coach has the trust in me to be out there to finish the game.”
Djim Bandoumel led all scorers and tied his career high with 16 points, while also adding five rebounds and three blocks. Madison added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
The Vandals held WAC leading scorer Kevin Olekaibe of Fresno State (7-10, 0-2) to 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting, and he was the only Bulldog to crack double figures.
Idaho travels to Louisiana Tech on Thursday.
FRESNO ST. (7-10)
J. Brown 3-4 3-4 9, T. Johnson 3-5 1-2 7, Wills 4-9 1-2 9, Olekaibe 6-14 1-2 15, Shepp 2-7 2-2 8, McGaughey 3-5 0-0 7, G. Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Foster 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 22-47 10-14 59.
IDAHO (8-8)
Tatum 1-4 2-4 4, Bandoumel 5-7 6-6 16, Barone 1-3 6-7 8, Madison 4-11 5-5 14, Geiger 2-9 0-0 6, Habeeb 2-4 3-3 7, Hill 3-6 0-0 8, McChristian 0-0 0-0 0, Kammerer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-44 22-25 63.
Halftime_Idaho 31-30. 3-Point Goals_Fresno St. 5-14 (Olekaibe 2-5, Shepp 2-6, McGaughey 1-2, T. Johnson 0-1), Idaho 5-17 (Hill 2-5, Geiger 2-7, Madison 1-2, Tatum 0-1, Habeeb 0-2). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Fresno St. 23 (Wills 6), Idaho 29 (Madison 8). Assists_Fresno St. 4 (T. Johnson, Shepp 2), Idaho 10 (Tatum 4). Total Fouls_Fresno St. 22, Idaho 18. A_1,303.