Idaho finished with a victory in its last home game of the season against conference foe Weber State in the Memorial Gym.
Although the Vandals looked in control, leading the game for over 32 minutes, it took key free-throws from freshman guard Trevon Allen and junior forward Arkadiy Mkrtychyan to put away the Wildcats 83-78 in overtime.
The win propelled Idaho within one game of second place in the Big Sky. Meanwhile, Weber State dropped from second to third in Big Sky standings after Eastern Washington’s win over Idaho State Saturday.
“It’s always good to get a home win,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. “Definitely very nice to send these seniors out with a win, no question about that.”
Junior guard Victor Sanders did not suit up, due to a contusion in his left calf from an awkward tumble he suffered against Idaho State on Feb. 23. Allen replaced Sanders, getting his 11th start of the season.
Verlin said Sanders has been working with trainers and will be evaluated on a day-to-day basis, but he is unsure of when Sanders will return to the court.
Idaho had a strong performance beyond the arc in the first half. The Vandals hit 6-of-13 from the perimeter on 46 percent shooting.
The Vandals led 38-33 at the break, despite shooting 38 percent from the field compared to Weber State’s 54 percent. Idaho outrebounded Weber State, 20-13 in the first half, but had just 14 points in the paint, two less than the Wildcats.
Idaho led by double-digits three times throughout the first half, holding the Wildcats to two-minute scoring droughts on two separate occasions. The lead would not hold, however, as Weber State came storming back into the game behind the play of guard Jeremy Senglin, who had 11 points in the first half.
Allen surpassed his previous career-high of 11 points with just over four minutes remaining in the half.
The Vandals began the second half one-of-six field goals in the first four minutes of play. Weber State tied it up with free throws at the 16-minute mark, the first deadlock since very early in the first half.
Idaho’s last field-goal of the game came with just over a minute remaining, as sophomore forward Nate Sherwood hit a lay-in, giving the Vandals a 68-61 advantage.
It looked all but over for the Wildcats, until Senglin scored 11 points in the final 40 seconds of regulation, cutting the lead down to two.
Senglin missed a free throw with one second remaining, leading to a loose-ball foul being called on Nate Sherwood with one-tenth of a second remaining that sent the crowd into an uproar. Weber State forward Kyndahl Hill nailed both free-throws, sending the game into overtime.
In overtime, both teams failed to connect on any field goals, scoring only from the line. Weber State turned the ball over three times, leading to intentional fouls and clutch free-throws from the Vandals, who went 9-10 from the line in overtime. Idaho outrebounded Weber State 43-32 and shot 44 percent from the field in the second half, compared to 37 percent for the Wildcats.
Allen finished the game with a career-high 25 points on 53.8 percent shooting. Allen exhibited confidence at the line, going 14-14 on free-throws and effectively putting the game out of reach for Weber State.
“I kind of like that pressure feeling,” Allen said. “Starting off the season, I was doing good with free-throws then kind of went into a slump. But then for me to kind of get back on it tonight, knock them down, it was good for me to get that feeling back.”
Mkrtychyan added 13 points and junior forward Jordan Scott grabbed nine rebounds, seven on the offensive end. Nine Vandals scored in the match-up, but only two were in double-figures.
“We’d been talking all year about being 15-strong,” Verlin said. “I tell guys all the time that there’s going to be a time during the season that each and every one of you is going to help us win a game and obviously Trevon was something special tonight.”
Four Weber State players scored in double-figures, including Senglin, who finished with 31 points and seven assists. Sophomore forward Zach Braxton had 12 points and nine assists.
With the win, Idaho has clinched its fifth winning season since 2000.
With only two games remaining, the Vandals have an opportunity to clinch a high seed in the Big Sky tournament.
The Vandals will travel to Flagstaff March 2 to take on Northern Arizona.
Colton Clark can be reached at [email protected]