The Idaho Vandals were locked in a back-and-forth battle with the University of San Diego. With under a minute to go, they had a five-point deficit and the ball in their hands. Redshirt freshman Kolton Mitchell received the ball on the wing and drove to his right.
Mitchell put the ball behind his back and crossed over to the left. On his left, Mitchell put up a contested jumper that cut the deficit to three. Mitchell made a free throw on the next possession, and the Vandals now trailed 63-61 with 45 seconds left.
San Diego, behind a 5-0 run by sophomore forward Santiago Trouet, closed out the Vandals and got their second victory 68-61. The loss dropped the Vandals to 2-5, and after a win earlier in the week, they have dropped back-to-back games.
For most of the game, the two teams battled back and forth, especially in the first half. The Vandals and San Diego struggled offensively, but at the end of the half, San Diego took a slim 26-23 lead into the break.
The battle continued into the second half, with both teams going back and forth until San Diego took control with an 8-0 run to jump out to a 38-30 lead.
The Vandals responded with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to two. The teams resumed their back-and-forth battle later in the game, but the Vandals ran out of gas in the final minute.
Fatigue and inexperience showed as they went scoreless in the final 45 seconds. After the Mitchell free throw had cut the lead to 63-61, Trouet for San Diego made a corner three-pointer and made two late free throws to put the Vandals away.
The Vandals struggled offensively, shooting 22/59 from the field, 6/25 from beyond the arc, and 11/19 from the free-throw line. They also turned the ball over 21 times in the game.
The Vandals were led by Mitchell, who finished the game with 13 points (all in the second half). Mitchell went 5/13 from the field, 2/7 from three, and 1/ 2 from the free-throw line.
Sophomore Kristian Gonzalez, in a valiant effort, helped Mitchell and the Vandals with 12 points and five rebounds of his own. However, the collective effort, though was not enough for Idaho.
The game was full of everything, including seven lead changes, five times the score was tied, and a lot of turnovers.
The Vandals will look to rebound when they host the University of California Riverside, trying to get their first division one win of the season. The Vandals will host the Highlanders on Saturday, Nov 30, at 3 p.m.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected]