POCATELLO — Blame it on failed late-game execution, a size disadvantage, seasonlong free-throw line struggles or season-altering injuries: they all added up and sent Idaho State to yet another close loss.

The Bengals fell 88-87 in overtime Thursday against Northern Arizona at Reed Gym, extending their season-long losing streak to seven games.

It was Idaho State’s third overtime loss this season and brings the team’s record to 1-4 in games decided by one possession or extra time.

“It feels a lot like all the rest of them recently,” Bengals coach Ryan Looney said postgame. “... There’s been a number of games this year where we’ve given ourselves an opportunity to win at the end of regulation, and for whatever reason, aren’t getting it done.”

PHOTOS: ISU-NAU men's basketball

Idaho State (6-15, 3-9 Big Sky Conference) led 79-76 with 19 seconds remaining in the second half after Jared Stutzman went 1 for 2 at the free-throw line. Northern Arizona (13-8, 7-5) made two free throws to close to 79-78, and put Austin Smellie on the line with 7 seconds remaining.

Smellie also went 1 of 2, and NAU’s Cameron Shelton had enough time to drive the length of the floor and tie the game with a layup before time expired.

The teams traded lead changes in overtime before Cameron Satterwhite scored the final points of the night on a pull-up jumper with 54 seconds remaining.

Chier Maker and Shelton each followed with misses, giving ISU a chance to take the lead with under 15 seconds to play.

But on ISU’s offensive transition, Coreyoun Rushin passed the ball out of bounds. NAU inbounded with 6.6 seconds on the clock, and ISU failed to foul and stop the clock before time ran out.

Rushin’s turnover was one of three ISU committed in overtime. The Bengals turned it over 14 times in the game.

Northern Arizona also shot 4 of 8 in the extra 5 minutes and was 54.5% from the floor for the game with 52 points in the paint.

“We just didn’t get enough stops. They scored basically every time down,” ISU point guard Tarik Cool said. “A few costly turnovers toward the end, a few bad shots. We’ve just got to continue to learn from it. I know it gets repetitive, but staying the course.”

It was another disappointing ending for the Bengals, who rallied after trailing by 13 points early in the second half. A 16-1 run, capped by Austin Smellie's old-fashioned three-point play, gave ISU a 62-60 lead with 10:20 to go and spearheaded an exciting end to the half that featured six lead changes.

A mid-range jumper by Cool accounted for the final lead change of the half with 4:13 remaining, but the Bengals never put Northern Arizona away. The Lumberjacks tied the score four times before regulation was over, with Shelton's late layup sending the game to OT.

"I thought we had them, but we ended up losing," said ISU forward Malik Porter, who led the Bengals with 21 points. "We should've pulled through. We've just got to find a way to close out the close games."

The Bengals led for 15:59 of the first half, including their largest leads of the night at 15-8, 17-10 and 20-13.

NAU answered the latter score by making six shots in a row and going on runs of 8-0 and 7-0 to take a 38-35 lead into halftime.

Northern Arizona's 54.5% shooting clip is the highest ISU has allowed to a Big Sky opponent, and marks the Bengals' third straight game allowing 50% or better.

NAU was also 50% (6 of 12) from the 3-point line.

But, Looney said, Northern Arizona did most of its damage inside with 52 points in the paint.

Opponents usually take it inside on the Bengals, who offer generous mismatches against other teams' post players.

"I know as the head coach I've got to do a much better job, but right now I'm at a little bit of a loss to figure out how to fix that," Looney said.

ISU wasn't bad itself on offense, shooting 49.2% overall and 36.4% from the arc. The Bengals even went 21 for 27 on free throws (77.8%).

None of it mattered in the game's final minutes.

"Obviously we're down, but we've got to keep fighting," Cool said. "Hopefully we'll get the monkey off our back. We've got to turn it into a positive mindset and understand that we've been in these situations before, so we've got to learn from them."

Malik Porter (21 points) led ISU in scoring for the third game in a row. Cool added 20 points. Smellie had 13 points and a career-high nine assists.

Shelton led NAU with 24 points.

Up next

Idaho State hosts Sacramento State on Saturday at Reed Gym.

NORTHERN ARIZONA 88, IDAHO STATE 87 (OT)

NAU 38 42 8 — 88

ISU 35 45 7 — 87

NAU — Satterwhite 19, Andre 20, Shelton 24, Avdalovic 6, DeBisschop 15, Mains 3, Bowling 1.

ISU — Smellie 13, Cool 20, Porter 21, Maker 9, Stutzman 10, Udengwu 8, Rushin 6.