A poor second half doomed Idaho State in a 65-55 loss Monday at Eastern Washington.

The Bengals (5-6, 1-1 Big Sky Conference) led by as many as 11 points before halftime, but shot 36 percent from the floor and committed 10 turnovers in the second half. The Eagles (3-10, 1-1 Big Sky) made 52 percent of their second-half shots and sunk all seven second-half free throws.

The Bengals made 8 of their first 10 shots from the field and went 14 for 43 the rest of the way.

“We imploded a little bit down the stretch,” ISU coach Bill Evans said in a postgame radio interview. “We weren’t tough enough down the stretch and consequently it ended up costing us.”

Idaho State didn’t trail until there were 15 minutes, 53 seconds left in the game, and led for 26:52. The Eagles went on a 9-0 run in the closing minutes to widen their lead from 54-53 to 63-53 and put the game out of reach.

ISU turned the ball over four times in the final 2:40 of action. EWU scored 21 points off ISU’s 17 turnovers.

“That was the difference in the game,” Evans said. “We had some guys who didn’t stay focused. They let a bad play affect the next play.”

Eastern went 5 of 15 from 3-point range, but scored 42 points in the paint. Mason Peatling led a balanced scoring attack with 16 points. Jacob Davison added 15, Jesse Hunt had 12 and Ty Gibson chipped 11 — all in the second half.

Balint Mocsan led Idaho State with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 5 of 10 from downtown. Kelvin Jones added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Only Mocsan, Jones and Brandon Boyd scored after halftime for Idaho State.

ISU returns home to host its first game since Nov. 29 when Southern Utah visits Holt Arena on Thursday. The Bengals went 2-3 during their recent five-game road trip and are 2-1 at home this season.