CHENEY, Wash. — The Idaho State men’s basketball team gained a road win — and lost a tiebreaker — in Big Sky Conference action on Saturday.

The Bengals physically manhandled Eastern Washington 78-54, getting their first back-to-back road wins of the season. Unfortunately for Idaho State, Portland State managed to hold off first-place Montana 79-76 in overtime at home. That PSU win flip-flopped the tiebreaker between ISU and the Vikings, who are both currently 10-7 and tied for third place in the conference standings.

The Portland State win means the Vikings now hold a tiebreaker over ISU by virtue of PSU having beaten Northern Colorado earlier this season, while ISU lost both games to the Bears.

So going into Monday’s night regular season finale against Northern Arizona at Reed Gym, the worst ISU can finish is fourth in the league standings. The best is third all alone, but that would require a Bengal win and a PSU loss at home to Sacramento State.

Either way, ISU has clearly outperformed expectations after losing nine players in the off-season to the transfer portal and being picked to finished eighth in both the coaches’ and media pre-season Big Sky polls.

By finishing no worse than fourth, the ISU men guarantee they won’t open the Big Sky Tournament in Boise until Monday, March 10. If they are the fourth seed, they will begin play at 5:30 p.m. against the No. 5 seed. If they are the third seed, they will play at 8 p.m. against the No. 6 seed.

No matter where they finish, the Bengals are likely feeling good about themselves following back-to-back road wins at Idaho and EWU. On Saturday, ISU outrebounded the Eagles 44-25, including 18-6 on the offensive glass. That led to ISU outscoring EWU 25-2 in second-chance points.

“I thought we were definitely the more physical team today,” said ISU head coach Ryan Looney after the game. “Our guys did a great job rebounding and taking care of the ball.”

In addition to dominating the glass, ISU turned the ball over only 10 times vs. 14 by the Eagles, and the Bengals outscored EWU 16-6 in points off of turnovers.

The Bengals jumped out to an 11-4 advantage, a lead they never relinquished. They were up 40-29 at halftime and the Eagles never led on their Senior Day. The victory raises Idaho State’s overall record to 15-13, the most wins the Bengals have recorded under Looney, now in his sixth season as ISU head coach. It also guarantees ISU will have its second regular season winning record under Looney. His previous occurred in the COVID-shortened season of 2020-21 at 13-11.

Forward Connor Hollenbeck recorded the first double-double of his Idaho State career with 12 rebounds, including five offensive, and 11 points. Point guard Dylan Darling led the Bengals with 24 points on nine of 17 from the field and five of six from the free throw line. Darling added six assists and four steals, against only one turnover.

Also in double figure scoring for Idaho State were Isaiah Griffin with 12 points and six rebounds and Jake O’Neil with 10 points and a season-low three rebounds.

Defensively, ISU held Eastern to only a single double-figure scorer, guard Andrew Cook who had 24 points off the bench. EWU shot only 38 percent from the field (19 of 50), 25 percent from three (four of 16), and 12 of 14 from the foul line.

Idaho State didn’t have one of its better shooting nights, hitting only 42.6 percent from the field (26 of 61), four of 17 from three (23.5 percent) and 22 of 28 from the free throw line (78.6 percent). But ISU’s dominance in rebounding, points off turnovers and scoring in the paint (38 points) gave the Bengals an easy victory.

Idaho State will host Senior Night activities Monday beginning at 7 p.m. in Reed Gym. Griffin and Hollenbeck both qualify as seniors, but both may have the option to return for another season of play after the NCAA’s recent ruling granting an extra season to players who competed in non-NCAA leagues. O’Neil, meanwhile, has seen his clock expire unless the NCAA decides to give athletes an extra year to finish their eligibility.

The only other senior on ISU’s roster is AJ Burgin who will also be honored on Senior Night.