With both Idaho and North Dakota vying for a first round bye in the Big Sky postseason tournament next month, the Vandal men’s basketball team entered Saturday’s game seeking a pivotal conference victory.
Idaho rallied behind the surprise return of junior guard Perrion Callandret to earn a thrilling 65-64 win in front of a home crowd of 1,500 at the Cowan Spectrum.
“It was a game-time decision on Callandret,” said Idaho head coach Don Verlin. “It was great to have him back in the lineup. We were very fortunate to win that basketball game with the way we turned it over.”
Callandret made the return to the court Saturday after sitting out the previous month with a foot injury. The junior last played Jan. 9 in a 74-60 loss to Eastern Washington.
The Fighting Hawks opened the game with a 9-1 run, but a scoring drought of two and a half minutes for North Dakota allowed Idaho to cut the deficit to five points.
The Vandals later capitalized on consecutive 3-pointers from sophomore guard Chad Sherwood and Callandret to tie the game at 18-18.
After a low-scoring first half, the two programs entered the break locked in a 22-22 tie.
Callandret led the Vandals in the first half with five points and three rebounds. Senior forward Nahshon George added another five points and collected four rebounds for Idaho.
Junior guard Corey Baldwin finished the first half with eight points for the Fighting Hawks, while junior guard Quinton Hooker provided three assists.
The Vandals received 14 points from bench players during this span, compared to just four for the Fighting Hawks.
The two teams posted nearly identical shooting percentages in the first half. Idaho shot 37.5 percent from the field, while North Dakota finished the period shooting 36 percent.
“There’s not really a lot of adjustments (at halftime), we knew (Drick) Bernstine was a heck of a rebounder,” Verlin said. “We just talked about keep going at it and keep doing what we do and to be ourselves.”
North Dakota opened the second half with back-to-back treys from Corey Baldwin to take a 28-24 lead over the Vandals.
The Vandals regained the lead later in the period when sophomore forward Arkadiy Mkrtychyan nailed a 3-pointer from the right side of the perimeter. The basket gave the Vandals a 42-41 advantage.
A three-minute scoring drought by North Dakota allowed Idaho to take a 49-44 lead.
Sophomore forward Drick Bernstine tried to rally North Dakota in the final minutes of play, drawing a foul on Callandret with 1:21 left in regulation. Bernstine converted one of the attempts to reduce the Vandal lead to 59-54.
North Dakota capitalized on an Idaho turnover on the following play. Bernstine hit a short-range jumper from the block to cut the Fighting Hawks deficit to three points.
Freshman guard Nick Blair responded for the Vandals with a spin move and layup from the post to extend Idaho’s lead to five with 50 seconds on the clock.
North Dakota freshman Adam McDermott drew a foul on the other side of the court to earn a pair of free throws. The guard went 2-2 from the charity stripe to pull the Fighting Hawks to within three points with 39 seconds left in regulation.
North Dakota elected to foul Mkrtychyan on the following inbounds play in an attempt to conserve time. The sophomore made both attempts from the charity stripe to give the Vandals a 63-58 lead.
Quinton Hooker responded with a deep 3-pointer for North Dakota on the ensuing possession with 30.7 seconds left, reducing Idaho’s lead to 63-61.
North Dakota fouled Blair on the following inbounds play to send the strong forward to the line with 29.5 seconds on the clock. The freshman converted one of the two free throws to regain a three-point lead for Idaho.
Geno Crandall attempted a deep trey for North Dakota, but the shot was wide and rebounded by Nate Sherwood. The redshirt freshman was immediately fouled with 16 seconds left and made one free throw to increase Idaho’s lead to 65-61.
Hooker received the inbounds pass for the Fighting Hawks and converted a shot attempt from the key as he was fouled by the Idaho defense. The junior converted the free throw with 7.5 seconds to cut the deficit to one point.
Chris Sarbaugh received the ensuing inbounds pass for the Vandals and was immediately fouled with 5.8 seconds left in the game.
The senior guard missed both attempts, and the Fighting Hawks gained possession of the basketball after a scramble for the rebound.
Instead of taking a timeout, North Dakota head coach Brian Jones elected to let his offense employ fast break push in waning seconds of the game. Freshman forward Josh Collins attempted a shot at the buzzer from ten feet out, but the shot was too high and clanked off the backboard, giving Idaho a 65-64 win.
“I was so unbelievably relieved when he missed that,” Sarbaugh said. “It goes from the worst feeling in the world to the best feeling in the world in five seconds.”
George finished the game as the leading scorer for the Vandals with 11 points. Sarbaugh added another eight points and collected nine rebounds, while providing Idaho with seven assists.
Baldwin led the Fighting Hawks with 15 points, while Bernstine recorded a double-double that consisted of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
“(Bernstine) is the one who really gets after it on the boards, but I thought our bigs stepped up to the challenge,” Sarbaugh said.
The Vandals relied on a 66.7 shooting percentage from the field in the second half to clinch the win over North Dakota. Idaho converted on 14 of 21 shots to score 43 second-half points.
With this win, the Vandals claim sole possession of fifth place in the Big Sky Conference standings. Idaho sits a half game out of fourth place behind Idaho State and one game out of third behind Eastern Washington.
“We want that first-round bye, that’s what we’re shooting for,” George said. “We feel like we belong in the top four of this conference. Going ahead, we know what we’re capable of.”
The Vandals will be on the road next week to face Portland State Thursday at 7:05 p.m. at the Peter Stott Center.
Josh Grissom can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GoshJrissom