GREELEY, Colo. – A tremendous performance from Chad Sherwood lifted Idaho (10-5, 2-0 BSC) to a 75-70 win over Northern Colorado (4-10, 1-1 BSC) on Saturday afternoon.  He drained six 3-pointers on the day, including five in the second half, and finished with 18 points.

“I thought Chad played great,” head coach Don Verlin said.  “I thought our guys did a great job of finding him open shots.  Chad's a great shooter, he has worked really hard on his shooting.  He can hit those shots and he did a great job of knocking them down tonight.”

It was a back-and-forth game with neither team holding control for long.  When the Vandals needed an offensive burst they went to Chad Sherwood, who connected on 6-of-8 attempts from range.  He put Idaho up, 60-55, with back-to-back 3's late in the game, and the Vandals then looked to Perrion Callandret to ice it at the free throw line.  Callandret closed the game 11-of-12 from the line over the final 1:43, giving Idaho the close win.

“We kept being aggressive and got to the line.  That was the difference in the game,” said Verlin.  “We made our free throws, especially down the stretch.  We only allowed them to get one shot.  Defensive rebounding wins championships.  I thought our defense was excellent in the first half, but it slipped a bit in the second half.  Our defensive rebounding was great all night.”

Callandret also finished with 18 points, but struggled from the field at just 2-of-10.  Victor Sanders scored 11 in his first game coming off the bench.  In the end, all nine Vandals that played scored.

Idaho was incredible from the charity stripe, going 23-of-27 (85.2%).  The Vandals shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the field and 45.5 percent (10-of-22) from deep.  Northern Colorado hit one more 3-pointer than the Vandals, but needed eight more attempts to get there.  As has been the case of late, The Vandals won the battle of the boards, 37-28.

The Vandals closed the first half on a 12-5 run over the final seven minutes to take a 28-27 lead into the break.  In all, eight different Vandals scored in the first half.

Next up, the Vandals head to local rival Eastern Washington on Saturday, January 9.  Check back with GoVandals.com for more information as the game gets closer.

Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho men's basketball by following the team on twitter, @VandalHoops.

For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com.  Fans can also find Idaho on Twitter and Instagram, @Idaho_Vandals, or on Facebook by searching Idaho Vandals.