Basketball is a simple game, Idaho state head coach Bill Evans said after Idaho State lost to Cal State Bakersfield 61-57 Saturday night in Holt Arena.

    It’s a simple game and the reasons why the Bengals and the 1,502 in attendance watched a one-point lead slip away with a minute left aren’t complicated.

    Bakersfield (7-7) made plays. Idaho State (3-6) didn’t.

    Simple.

    “I don’t know what the winning formula is, because if I did we would have won,” said Idaho State senior point guard Tomas Sanchez, who finished with 17 points. “They just made more plays than we did in the end.”

    After Chris Hansen slipped into the lane for a layup with one minute and two seconds left, the Bengals led the Roadrunners 57-56.

    The one-point margin followed a previous 38 minutes where both teams struggled offensively in the first half — combining to shoot 14 for 44 from the floor — before the action heated after the break.

    Up through Hansen’s layup, in fact, ISU, now mired in a four-game losing streak, had played a great half of basketball.

    Trailing by three at the break, the Bengals jumped on the Runners by as much as six. In one stretch, ISU’s active zone defense forced a succession of turnovers and the run of play opened up, allowing the Bengals to build 48-42 lead with 9:46 left.

    But CSUB, a road-tested squad with seven games away from its home court, fought back into the game.

    “When you go on the road, you’ve got to do what we did. You just put yourself, with two or three minutes left, in a position to win a game,” said Bakersfield head coach Rod Barnes.

    The Roadrunners got back into the game by shooting a 56 percent from the floor (14 for 25) in the final 20 minutes. And junior Javonte Maynor made big shots.

    In two games against Idaho State this season, Maynor has entered off the bench to score 21 points Nov. 23 in Bakersfield and 17 Saturday night. The 6-foot guard has made 12 of the 17 shots he’s taken from the perimeter, including five in Pocatello to score a team-high 17 points for CSUB.

    “He made some tough shots,” Sanchez said. “... He’s a good player. He’s got a quick release and we’ve got to be there quicker.”

    But it was Stefon Johnson’s short hook shot in the lane with 51 seconds left that put Bakersfield up 58-57.

    And then it was the Roadrunners’ defense that finished off the game.

    Off a time out, Idaho State ran 21 seconds off the clock, but a potential game-winning shot never materialized.

    Another time out.

    Seconds into Idaho State’s out-of-bounds play, Bakersfield guard Issiah Grayson forced a turnover. In the ensuing chaos, Sanchez reached out to foul Erik Kinney and an intentional foul was called, awarding Bakersfield two free throws and possession from half court.

    Kinney made one free throw and Maynor got a free layup in transition off the inbounds play.

    In 45 seconds of game action, Bakersfield flipped a 57-56 deficit into a 61-57 advantage.

    “It’s not rocket science,” Evans said. “... We didn’t execute in the end of the game very well.”

    But Evans wanted no part in pinning the loss on the last minute.

    “One play doesn’t win or lose a game,” he said. “It’s a combination of a bunch of those.”

    Hansen scored 14 points for Idaho State. Junior Jeffrey Solarin had 12 points and nine rebounds.

    Idaho State starts Big Sky Conference play Thursday against Portland State and hosts Eastern Washington Saturday.

NOTES: Ajak Magot, the junior center who broke his foot in Idaho State’s exhibition game Nov. 4, dressed for the Bengals Saturday night, but he did not see time on the floor. ... CSUB beat ISU 71-69 in their meeting Nov. 23 in Bakersfield.