Dec 29, 2001

Box Score

LOGAN, Utah (AP) - Tony Brown scored 19 points and Desmond Penigar added 17 points and eight rebounds to lead Utah State to a 74-56 victory Saturday in the championship game of the Gossner Foods Classic.

The Aggies (10-1) improved to 16-0 all-time in the tournament they've hosted since 1994, and have won 31 straight games at home.

The Bengals (6-6) lost despite 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists from Jeremy Brown. Ray Munyagi added 13 points and six rebounds for Idaho State.

Tony Brown, who scored 25 points against Centenary on Friday, was named MVP of the tournament after going 7 of 10 from the floor, 4 of 7 from 3-point range and adding seven assists in Saturday's win.

The Aggies trailed 10-2 at the start of the game and didn't score their first field goal until Penigar hit a 3-pointer over six minutes into the contest. Utah State took a 21-20 lead on 3-pointer by Brown with 6:17 to go in the first half, and pulled away to a 31-24 advantage at halftime despite going nearly six minutes without a field goal.

Guided by Brown's hot hand, the Aggies went on a 16-6 run over the first 7:30 of the second half to take a 47-30 lead and the Bengals never got any closer than nine points the remainder of the contest.

After shooting a season-low 35 percent in the first half, the Aggies rebounded to shoot 59 percent over the final 20 minutes.

Joining Jeremy Brown on the All-Classic Team were Penigar, Utah State's Jeremy Vague, Centenary's Andrew Wisniewski and Birmingham-Southern's Rashard Willies.

Utah State's Ronnie Ross set a new tournament record by notching 10 assists while converting just one turnover.