With less than 20 seconds remaining in the Idaho State men's basketball team's 61-53 loss to Portland State on Tuesday at the Dee Events Center, junior guard Amorrow Morgan fired a pass to Austin Kilpatrick.

The junior sharpshooter was waiting on the left wing, hoping to put up a 3-pointer that could cut the Bengals' deficit down to 59-56.

The pass sailed high and to Kilpatrick's left. He did all he could to snare the errant delivery, but it bounced off his fingertips and out of bounds.

No, that play didn't cost Idaho State its Big Sky tournament semifinal contest. Heck, had Kilpatrick drained a trey, the Bengals still would've lost. There wasn't enough time on the clock for any other result.

Still, the pass that soared too high and too wide provided a fitting end to the loss. Overall, the defeat at the hands of the Vikings served as a 40-minute, Cliff's Notes version of Idaho State's 2008-09 season.

For the first half, the Bengals played so poorly they would've struggled to beat a middle-of-the-road NAIA team. After halftime, Joe O'Brien's boys performed well enough to beat any mid-major team in the country.

Ultimately - as it did in the conference race - Idaho State found itself too far behind when it started showcasing its sizable talent to erase its early deficit.

The same things that tripped up the Bengals early in the season caused them to stumble during their poor stretches Tuesday.

On the offensive end, Idaho State became a team of one man dribbling around while the other four waited for him to make a play. On many possessions, the Bengals treated the basketball like a penny, something that has so little value that nobody would miss it upon its loss.

On the defensive end, Idaho State left Portland State shooters wide open far too often, and the Vikings capitalized by hitting 7-of-13 3-pointers as they built a 42-23 halftime lead.

After the game, O'Brien quickly shook off the suggestion that his team made any offensive adjustments at halftime that sparked an 18-3 run to start the second half.

"No," he said. "We just started running our offense."

That exact quote could've applied to the team as it was reeling off six wins in its last seven games to advance to the semifinals after slogging through a stretch of four straight league losses.

Give the Bengals credit, though.

Following that terrible stretch in conference play, which included a humiliating loss at lowly Sacramento State, Idaho State fell behind by 10 in the first half against Portland State at Holt Arena. On that day, the Bengals rallied to save their season and ultimately earn the four seed for the Big Sky tournament and an opening-round playoff home game for the second straight year.

"We never gave up," said senior Matt Stucki. "That's not in anybody on our team."

The Century High graduate and longtime fixture of the Idaho State program said those words about Tuesday's loss, not the season as a whole. But they apply to both.

Like they did during their late-season turnaround, the Bengals started clicking in the second half against the Vikings.

That 19-point lead shriveled to three on two separate occasions.

Idaho State started passing crisply and moving without the basketball on

one end while closing out and playing suffocating defense on the other. Still, they couldn't complete the comeback just like they couldn't find their game soon enough during the regular season to challenge for the league title.

Portland State coach Ken Bone did nothing but heap praise on Idaho State during his post-game news conference. He said he wasn't surprised the Bengals finished fourth in the league, and their second-half rally Tuesday didn't shock him.

"They're a very, very good, experienced basketball club," Bone said.

Indeed Idaho State was.

If only the Bengals could've shown that on a consistent basis …

Tim Flagstad's column normally appears Mondays. With comments or story

ideas, contact him at 239-3124 or by e-mail at tflagstad@journalnet.com.