CHENEY - Idaho came back from down 17 to claim an 81-79 overtime victory at Eastern Washington on Thursday night in nonconference men's basketball before 1,107 at Reese Court.

The game featured eight ties and 22 lead changes - seven in overtime alone - as Idaho moved to 3-4 on the season and EWU slipped to 2-6.

The 17-point comeback was tied as the biggest under Idaho coach Don Verlin and is the biggest road comeback during his tenure.

"I thought we were dead to rights," Verlin said of the 50-33 deficit with 15:53 to play. "They came out and went on a 16-0 run to start the half after we'd made a couple defensive mistakes, but I couldn't be prouder. I thought we battled very hard in the second half and we found a way to win the ball game."

A four-point play by former Post Falls High standout Connor Hill with 2:38 left in OT was the final lead change of the day, and then Idaho senior guard Mansa Habeeb kissed a 10-footer off the glass for the game-winning shot with 20.2 seconds to play to break a 79-all tie.

"Rob (Harris) was penetrating and I was wide open," Habeeb said of the shot. "I knew I was going bank shot as soon as I got the ball and I just followed through and hit the shot - it brought back some memories."

Habeeb got a hand in EWU guard Justin Crosgile's face on the ensuing possession to help alter the long 3-pointer and senior center Kyle Barone grabbed the board — his 11th of the game — with two seconds to play. After a foul, Barone missed the front end of the one-and-one, but junior guard Stephen Madison clinched it with his 10th board of the evening.

Madison led all players with a career-high 29 points on 12-of-23 shooting, along with 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Barone added 20 points and 11 rebounds for his 12th career double-double, as well as a career-high five assists and a career-high-tying five blocks. Hill and Habeeb tallied 10 points each as Idaho’s other two double-figure scorers. Hill made 3 of 4 3-pointers.

EWU’s Crosgile “single-handedly kept them in the game,” Verlin said. He finished the day with 26 points on 8-of-16 long-range shooting, as well as had eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in 44 minutes.

“Everything is teaching with a young team,” EWU coach Jim Hayford said. “Give Idaho credit. They had upperclassmen big guys. We had underclassmen small guys. It was a war on the boards. They had more offensive rebounds than we had defensive rebounds.”

Forward Venky Jois had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles, Thomas Reuter had 11 points and five boards, and center Martin Seiferth had 10 points.

“It’s unbelievable — we shoot 46 percent, they shoot 38 (percent overall) and 32 (from 3-point range),” Verlin said. “We outrebound them by 21, have 23 assists and 13 turnovers — and we win in overtime. It was just a wild game.”

Eastern put together a 19-0 scoring run to take a 50-33 lead with 15:53 left in the game. The Vandals scored six in a row to get within 11 at 50-39, then after a Crosgile 3-pointer, rattled off 15 in a row to take a 54-53 lead with 8:16 to play.

Neither team led by more than five for the remainder of regulation. The Vandals led by five, 67-62, with 2:47 to play, but a Jois layup and a Crosgile triple tied it up at 67. Idaho got several good looks on three offensive boards before time expired, but none of its final three shots fell.

“It was amazing that the game was that close,” Hayford said. “It had to do with our experience in the backcourt maybe versus their experience. We took care of the ball and had good ball possession. We were two evenly-matched teams. I will be able to do a lot of teaching with our front court on showing them how to rebound a little better.”

There’s not much time to savor the win for Idaho, because the Vandals fly out of Spokane today at 6 a.m. for a Saturday game at UTEP in El Paso, Texas.

“I scheduled this game because it’s going to be just like a (Western Athletic Conference) road trip — two games in three days,” Verlin said. “We’re going to enjoy this one tonight and then fly out early tomorrow, get to El Paso and prepare for a very tough UTEP team.”

Eastern plays host to Seattle U on Monday.

IDAHO (3-4)

C. Hill 3-6 1-1 10, McChristian 1-5 0-0 2, Barone 8-9 4-9 20, Madison 12-23 4-5 29, Faines 0-0 0-0 0, Harris Jr. 2-7 0-0 4, Douglas 1-3 0-0 2, Habeeb 4-8 2-2 10, Borton 0-1 0-0 0, Bell 0-5 0-2 0, Kammerer 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 33-71 11-19 81.

E. WASHINGTON (2-6)

Crosgile 9-19 0-1 26, Seiferth 4-5 2-2 10, Reuter 4-12 3-5 11, Forbes 2-5 0-0 5, Jois 5-14 3-3 13, Kelly 3-8 2-2 9, Dorsey 2-6 0-0 5, Winford 0-5 0-0 0, Hickert 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-76 10-13 79.

Halftime_E. Washington 34-33. End Of Regulation_Tied 67. 3-Point Goals_Idaho 4-13 (C. Hill 3-4, Madison 1-5, Douglas 0-1, Borton 0-1, McChristian 0-2), E. Washington 11-34 (Crosgile 8-16, Dorsey 1-2, Forbes 1-2, Kelly 1-4, Hickert 0-2, Winford 0-4, Reuter 0-4). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Idaho 55 (Barone 11), E. Washington 34 (Jois 10). Assists_Idaho 23 (Barone, Harris Jr. 5), E. Washington 16 (Forbes 5). Total Fouls_Idaho 17, E. Washington 15. A_1,107.