krobinett@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - When regulation ended and the score was still tied, a large number of Idaho State fans headed for the exits at Holt Arena on Tuesday.

At the time, the decision to leave seemed mind-numbingly foolish. It was only 9 p.m., and Idaho State and Long Beach State were headed to overtime. Yet more than 100 of the 2,015 fans on hand had seen enough.

Some booed as they exited the arena, but they could not be swayed.

Turns out they knew something everyone else in the building was trying to deny: When the Idaho State men's basketball team takes a game to overtime, it loses.

The Bengals have done so in back-to-back-to-back games now. First, they lost at Hawaii in overtime. Then they fell at Boise State in double overtime. And on Tuesday they once again lost in two overtimes to Long Beach State. This time, the final score was 88-82.

Three consecutive overtime games tied a school record, but with Idaho State (1-3) losing all three contests, it is not a record coach Joe O'Brien is at all interested in setting.

"We've played four games and felt like they were all winnable," O'Brien said. "We could have walked away with a win in all four of them."

Amazingly, Idaho State's three consecutive overtime losses have all come in drastically different ways.

At Hawaii, the Bengals couldn't break a press defense. In Boise, Idaho State couldn't find anyone other than junior guard Amorrow Morgan to score.

Against Long Beach State, the Bengals fixed both those problems but still couldn't pull out a win.

Morgan still led Idaho State in scoring with 20 points, but he was joined at the top by junior center Deividas Busma, senior guard Matt Stucki scored 10 points and junior forward Demetrius Monroe recorded his fourth straight double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

And despite fighting back from an early 30-15 hole, holding a lead throughout most of the second half and possessing the ball on the final play of regulation, the Bengals couldn't put the 49ers away.

Their best chance came on that last play of regulation. With 24 seconds remaining, Idaho State could run just about anything. Considering how Morgan had sent each of the previous two games to overtime with key baskets late, he seemed to be the guy O'Brien wanted with the ball.

But the Bengals' leading scorer deferred this time. He passed off to junior guard Donnie Carson, who fought for space on the baseline and missed a contested jumper. The game then went to overtime, and fans started to leave.

O'Brien said Morgan passed because he was the focal point of Long Beach State's defense and thought someone else could better get off a shot.

Morgan said he gave the ball to Carson because he had confidence in him.

"I've got a lot of faith in him making that shot," Morgan said. "It's just one of those shots that, this time, he missed."

From there, Idaho State never truly controlled the game again. It never trailed in the first overtime, but when it had the chance to score the go-ahead bucket with 21.4 seconds remaining, Phyllip Taylor threw an errant pass, and Long Beach State ended up missing on the other end.

In double overtime, the Bengals were simply blown away.

Donovan Morris, a senior guard who leads the 49ers in scoring, scored 14 of his 24 points in the second overtime to swing the game in Long Beach State's favor.

The loss made O'Brien 1-10 in overtime games at Idaho State.

The 49ers (2-2) were also coming off an overtime game, a 73-69 win over Weber State, and Morris said he badly wanted to lead his team to consecutive victories. Remember, Long Beach State won only six games last year and had lost 10 straight games before toppling the Wildcats.

This was a big win for the 49ers.

"This group of seniors that I've been with," Morris said. "We have haven't won two games in a row, ever."

Busma, who grabbed 11 rebounds to go along with his 20 points said he understood why Idaho State allowed that to happen.

He sees the same thing as some of the fans: The Bengals aren't the same team in overtime as they are in regulation.

"I don't know what's wrong with our team, but we're losing our intensity in overtime," he said. "We force the game to overtime, kinda relax and walk out loose. We need to keep that intensity up and keep going."