MOSCOW, Idaho - Junior guard Deremy Geiger scored 17 points, dished six assists and led the University of Idaho men's basketball team to a third-consecutive win Saturday night, 69-66 over Monmouth at the Basketball Travelers Classic.

Idaho (4-3) put together the Western Athletic Conference's top single-game shooting performance of the year and held off a late Monmouth (2-4) rally to claim victory on the second day of the tournament at Memorial Gym.

"It was a very good offensive execution night tonight," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. "One of our keys to the win was being disciplined - we had two things, discipline and poise."

The Vandals started strongly by shooting 53.8 percent from the field in the first half, then they torched the nets in the second period with a blistering 64.7 percent clip, including a 4-of-5 showing from 3-point land. For the game, Idaho hit 58.1 percent of its shots to edge its previous season- and WAC-high of 56.4 percent in the Nov. 13 win over Eastern Oregon.

Verlin said he was very happy with the combination of Geiger and junior Landon Tatum running the point, and with his team's ability to make some on-the-fly adjustments.

"I've got to give credit to my assistant coaches who stayed up all night last night working their tails off," Verlin said. "We made some adjustments in shoot-around and those adjustments were very effective early. Our coaching staff did a great job, and then you've got to give credit to the players. We hardly missed an assignment in the first 10 minutes, and that's attributed to these guys listening and getting better."

Phil Wait came off the bench to lead Monmouth in scoring with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting, while James Hett put in 12 points, and Mike Myers Keitt added 10 points and five rebounds. Jordan Davis led the Hawks with six assists and tied for the team lead with three steals.

The Hawks hit 46.6 percent of their shots, including a 56.7 clip in the second half. They went 8-of-26 from 3-point range and made four of their nine free throw attempts.

Idaho out-rebounded Monmouth by a 27-24 overall margin. The Vandals also blocked six shots, dished 15 total assists and grabbed four steals, while committing 15 turnovers. MU's 10 steals are an Idaho opponent high for the season. Monmouth also had two blocks, 11 assists and 10 turnovers.

The Hawks held a 34-28 advantage in paint points, a 19-15 edge in points off turnovers, a 19-8 advantage in second-chance points and their bench outscored Idaho's, 29-15. The Vandals held an 8-2 edge in fast-break points.

Idaho led for a majority of the first half by a slim margin, and for the second time this weekend, used an efficient scoring run to turn a slight lead into a big advantage.

When a Hett jumper gave Monmouth its first and only lead of the game at 18-16 with 7;44 remaining in the half, the Vandals answered with a 12-2 run over the next 2:40 to go ahead by eight points at 28-20. Idaho took that same margin into the half with a 33-25 lead.

Monmouth threatened to make Idaho's late-first-half efforts disappear when they opened the second period on fire. After missing a 3-pointer on their opening possession of the half, the Hawks nailed nine of their next 11 shots to whittle Idaho's lead down to a single possession.

A steal by Idaho's Shawn Henderson sparked a Jeff Ledbetter 3-pointer a the 10:36 mark of the game to put Idaho up six, 51-45. The play proved to be a momentum shift, as Monmouth hit just three of its next 11 shots and turned it over three times, while Idaho hit four of its next five shots to extend the lead to double digits.

Monmouth's full-court pressure and three Idaho turnovers in the final minute allowed the Hawks to cut the gap, but the Vandals weathered the storm. Davis hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to make the final, 69-66.

"We're getting better, and we've just got to continue to get better," Verlin said of his team. "I really like where our frame of mind has been all year."

With a 2-0 record for the weekend, Idaho will now face a 1-5 Eastern Michigan team that has had a pair of close games slip away during the tournament. The Eagles have lost two BTI Classic games by a combined six points, both of which were decided in the final seconds.

North Dakota will face off with Monmouth in the early game at 3:30 p.m. (PT), while Idaho and Eastern Michigan will play in the tournament's finale at 6 p.m.