RUSTON, La. - Idaho rallied from 13 points down in the second half to beat Louisiana Tech 90-88 in overtime in Western Athletic Conference men's basketball Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Before Thursday, Idaho hadn't beaten the Bulldogs on their home floor in six tries and most of those games hadn't been close.

"So much adversity," Idaho coach Don Verlin said. "I really compliment our guys. It looked we were in trouble, like we were so many times here in the past. Once we were able to get the game in a half-court set, we were able to get our shooters open looks and away we went."

Deremy Geiger scored 21 of his game-high 23 points in the second half and overtime for Idaho (9-8, 2-1 WAC).

Idaho trailed 50-37 with 17:14 remaining in the game. Geiger went 5 of 6 from long range in the second half and spurred a 16-3 Vandal run to tie the game at 53 with 12:55 to go.

"I think it took a while for us to get comfortable, get into the flow of our offense and get the tempo to how we want it to be, and when we did that, we got into a good rhythm," Geiger said.

That's when things got interesting.

Neither team led by more than five points in the remainder of regulation, and there were five ties and three lead changes during that span.

Idaho took a 76-72 lead at the 2:28 mark on a Geiger 3, but the Bulldogs knotted it back up on a pair of free throws with 54 seconds left. Idaho maintained possession for the final 54 seconds after four offensive rebounds, but Kyle Barone's potential game-winning putback was waved off and the teams went to OT.

The Vandals controlled the lead nearly from start to finish in extra time, but a 3 of 4 effort from 3-point range kept the Bulldogs within striking distance. An Idaho turnover with 12.5 seconds left and then a foul on a 3-pointer with 1.2 ticks on the clock gave Louisiana Tech (8-9, 0-2) one final opportunity.

Tech freshman Raheem Appleby sank the first freebie, but missed the second and set up an intentional-miss scenario. After Appleby sent the third free throw hard off the back iron, it was 5-10 senior guard Landon Tatum who snagged the rebound and held on as time expired to clinch the win.

Geiger hit 7 of 14 from the floor, including 6 of 9 from long range. Tatum set career bests in points (20) and made (13) and attempted (15) free throws, while adding a game-high six assists and four rebounds. Sophomore Stephen Madison chipped in 18 points.

Vandal junior Kyle Barone had his fifth double-double of the season, with 13 points, a career-best 15 rebounds, as well as three blocked shots, three assists and three steals.

Senior Brandon Gibson led the way for Tech with 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Appleby added 19.

Idaho travels to New Mexico State on Saturday.

"What a heck of a win," Verlin said.

IDAHO (9-8)

Bandoumel 3-3 2-2 8, Barone 6-13 1-1 13, Tatum 3-6 13-15 20, Madison 7-15 1-1 18, Geiger 7-14 3-3 23, Habeeb 0-1 0-0 0, Hill 0-5 0-0 0, McChristian 2-2 0-0 4, Borton 0-1 2-2 2, Kammerer 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 29-62 22-24 90.

LOUISIANA TECH (8-9)

Souza 3-6 0-0 6, Gibson 8-15 3-4 22, Appleby 6-17 5-7 19, K. Smith 1-3 0-0 3, McNeaill 1-4 5-6 7, Kyser 0-0 0-0 0, Gaskins 5-8 0-0 15, Johnson 4-8 3-3 12, Lewis 1-2 1-2 4. Totals 29-63 17-22 88.

Halftime_Louisiana Tech 43-34. End Of Regulation_Tied 76. 3-Point Goals_Idaho 10-22 (Geiger 6-9, Madison 3-5, Tatum 1-1, Borton 0-1, Habeeb 0-1, Hill 0-5), Louisiana Tech 13-24 (Gaskins 5-6, Gibson 3-8, Appleby 2-3, Lewis 1-1, K. Smith 1-1, Johnson 1-3, McNeaill 0-2). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Idaho 41 (Barone 15), Louisiana Tech 30 (Gibson 13). Assists_Idaho 19 (Tatum 6), Louisiana Tech 14 (K. Smith 5). Total Fouls_Idaho 16, Louisiana Tech 20. A_NA.