Donovan Morris had seen enough after 45 minutes on Tuesday night.
Morris, who struggled on 1-of-9 shooting from the field after the first overtime, scored 14 points in the last five minutes to lead Long Beach State to an 88-82 double OT victory over Idaho State at Holt Arena.
The first team All-Big West Conference guard from a year ago finished with a game-high 24 points on just 4-of-12 shooting but converted 14-of-16 from the free-throw line.
Freshman point guard Casper Ware also added five points in the second overtime frame for LBSU (2-2). Ware finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, three assists and four steals in 32 minutes.
After ISU’s last two games needed an extra five minutes to be decided and Long Beach’s Homecoming game went to an extra session, it seemed natural they would need more time when they played each other.
They needed 10 more minutes.
The second OT pitted the two leading scorers from each side taking their teams on their backs as Amorrow Morgan put in seven points for the Bengals (1-3).
Like Morris, Morgan struggled early but came on late and ended up with 20 points. He came into the game ranked 27th in the NCAA in scoring averaging (23 PPG).
Both teams scored just six points in the first OT, making it 69-69 at the beginning of the second extra period. The ‘Niners outscored the Bengals, 19-13, the rest of the way.
Arturas Lazdauskas came up big for The Beach in the first OT, scoring four points before fouling out with a minute to play.
But the story of the night was Morris, who sank two free throws with 24 seconds to play in regulation to tie the game and Carson Donnie missed a jumper at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
Early on it looked like LBSU was going to run away with it.
After knocking down five 3-pointers in LBSU’s huge comeback last Saturday night, Stephan Gilling picked up right where he left off. Gilling nailed six 3-pointers on seven attempts in the first 11:30 to help give the ‘Niners a 30-15 lead.
Long Beach couldn’t hold the lead, and a 19-4 Bengal run made it a 34-34 game at the half.
After his torrid start, Gilling missed his next eight shots, including seven 3-point attempts, and finished with 18 points.
Morris managed just one point and took only one shot from the field in the first half.
Highly-touted freshman Larry Anderson had his best game yet in a 49er uniform, scoring 10 points off the bench including some big buckets down the stretch.
Deividas Busma poured in 20 points for the Bengals, including a layup with 37 seconds to go in the second half to break a 61-61 tie. He was 8-for-9 from the field and also grabbed 11 rebounds before fouling out in the second OT.
Demetrius Monroe added 13 points and 14 rebounds, while Matt Stucki scored 10 points and dished out four assists for ISU.
LBSU won just one road game all last season (1-14 away from the Walter Pyramid) but matched that total tonight.
The 49ers return home to face the New Mexico State Aggies at 4:05 p.m. on Sunday at the Walter Pyramid. The Aggies (2-1) cruised past the LBSU, 80-48, in an ESPNU BracketBuster game last season.
