OGDEN, Utah (March 3, 2016) – Portland State's Cameron Forte posted a triple-double while Idaho State's Ethan Telfair scored 30 or more for the seventh time this season in a wild night of Big Sky Conference action.
With just one day left in the Big Sky Conference men's basketball regular season, there's still much to be decided. Sacramento State and Northern Colorado,are the only known seeds at next week's Big Sky Conference championship as the Hornets clinched the No. 10 seed with an overtime win over Southern Utah. Sac State will play either Portland State or Montana on Tuesday, March 8 at 5:30 p.m. Pacific in the opening round of the conference tournament. UNC clinched the No. 9 seed and will play either PSU or MSU Tuesday at 12 p.m. Pacific in the opening game of the tournament.
Idaho topped Weber State to earn at least a fourth seed in the conference tournament and a first-round bye. Idaho State can clinch the No. 3 seed with a win over the Vandals on Saturday or a loss and losses by Eastern Washington and North Dakota. UND can earn a first round bye with a win over Montana and an ISU and EWU loss. The Fighting Hawks also have the tiebreaker over EWU and ISU, meaning that in the event of a three-way tie, the Fighting Hawks would be fourth in the conference table thanks to a combined 3-1 mark over the Eagles and Bengals. Eastern Washington can finish no better than fifth in the conference standings and will play in Tuesday's opening round.
Portland State 89, Northern Arizona 81 – Cameron Forte posted the first triple-double in Portland State's history with 20 points, 10 assists and 15 rebounds. Isaiah Pineiro scored 31 to lead the Vikings to a win in the Rose City. NAU's Kris Yanku also had a big night with 32 points on 13-of-19 from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
Portland State can clinch the No. 7 seed with a win Saturday.NAU can clinch the No. 11 seed with a win or loss on Saturday and a SUU loss.
Idaho State 75, Eastern Washington 71 – Telfair's 31 points led ISU to a win over EWU Thursday night in Cheney. The loss was the Eagles' first defeat at home this season. Venky Jois registered a double-double and broke EWU's 39-year-old scoring record. The senior now has 1,754 points in his career.
Idaho 62, Weber State 58 – Joel Bolomboy returned for WSU but the Vandals out-muscled the Wildcats on the glass, winning the battle of the boards 50-30, and earned a home win over the conference leader. Victor Sanders was the only Vandals scorer in double figures with 14 points.
WSU can still clinch the regular-season title with a win on Saturday at EWU or a loss and a Montana loss.
Sacramento State 69, Southern Utah 63 – Four Hornet starters reached double-figures in Sacramento State's overtime home win over Southern Utah. The Hornets clinched the No. 10 seed with a win. Nick Hornsby led the way for Sac State with 16 points.
SUU can clinch the No. 11 seed with a win on Saturday and a NAU loss.
Montana 71, North Dakota 46 – Montana held UND to just 29.6 percent from the field and moved one step closer to a Big Sky regular season title with a home win on Thursday. Walter Wright led the way for UM with 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting. The Grizzlies can earn the regular-season crown with a win and a Weber State loss on Saturday.
Montana State 81, Northern Colorado 63 – Montana State snapped its recent losing skid with a home win over Northern Colorado. The Bobcats got 24 points from Marcus Colbert on 7-of-17 shooting. MSU can clinch the No. 7 seed with a win over UND on Saturday and a PSU loss.
