MOSCOW, Idaho – Despite trailing by as many as 21 points in the first half, Idaho (12-9, 4-4 BSC) had a chance to steal the win in the closing minutes but came up just short, falling to Sacramento State (9-9, 2-5 BSC), 65-63.

"We didn't execute the defensive game plan in the first half," said head coach Don Verlin.  "We didn't do it hard enough, we didn't do it well enough.  We allowed them way, way too many open shots."

The Vandals came out with fire in the second half, scoring the first seven points of the period.  After a few minutes of back-and-forth play, Idaho looked to Chad Sherwood and Ty Egbert to get back in the game.

"In the second half we just executed our offense," Verlin said.  "We settled down.  We didn't make one adjustment at halftime.  We just did what we were supposed to do.  Did what we were supposed to do.  I was really proud of our guys tonight.  They fought.  And they fought and they fought."

Idaho cut the lead to just one point in the final minute and had a chance to take the lead, but Pat Ingram's drive to the basket was thwarted by the Hornet's defense.  The Vandals would get another shot to tie it, this time from the line, with less than one second to play, but Ingram's first attempt rimmed out.

Chad Sherwood connected on 5-of-7 shots from beyond the arc in the second half, including three in the final six minutes.  Egbert was solid on the block throughout, but really took over in the second half as a dominant force down low.

Ingram finished with 11 points and a game-high nine boards.  Chad Sherwood had 22 on the night, going 6-of-9 from range.  Ingram had nine on the night, Nate Sherwood and Arkadiy Mkrtychyan had eight each.

Sacramento State connected on 10-of-26 3-pointers on the night, accounting for nearly half of its buckets.  The Vandals shot 50 percent (6-of-12) from deep.  Idaho won the rebounding battle, 34-27.

Next up, the Vandals host Portland State on Saturday.  Tipoff from the Cowan Spectrum is set for 7 p.m.  Check back with GoVandals.com tomorrow for more information.

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