TWIN FALLS, Idaho (Interstat) — In a game defined by a chaotic final minute, the College of Southern Idaho Eagles edged the North Idaho College Cardinal 74-70 in a men’s junior college basketball game Friday night.

The contest, a tightly contested affair throughout, saw the Eagles improve to 25-2 on the season while the Cardinal fell to 13-14.

The most critical sequence unfolded in the game’s closing seconds. With the score tied at 70 and under 40 seconds to play, Southern Idaho’s Jalen Lyn drew a foul and sank a free throw to put the Eagles ahead 71-70. North Idaho’s Justus Haseley answered immediately with a driving layup, giving the Cardinal a fleeting 72-71 lead with 27 seconds remaining.

Southern Idaho quickly inbounded and found Cooper Kesler, who was fouled. Kesler calmly made both free throws to restore the Eagles’ lead at 73-72. On the ensuing possession, North Idaho’s Austin Ouko missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer. A foul sent Southern Idaho’s Lyn back to the line, where he made one of two, extending the lead to 74-72 with six seconds left.

North Idaho had a final chance to tie or win. After a timeout, the Cardinal’s Ace Arnold was fouled attempting a three-pointer with six-tenths of a second on the clock. Arnold made all three free throws, knotting the score at 74. However, the officials ruled the foul occurred before the shot attempt, awarding Arnold only two free throws, which he made to tie the game at 73. On the ensuing inbounds play, Lyn was fouled and made one final free throw for the 74-73 margin. North Idaho’s last-second heave from half-court was off target.

The frantic finish capped a game where Southern Idaho’s efficiency proved decisive. Despite both teams having 70 possessions, the Eagles scored 74 points for an offensive rating of 106.1, outperforming North Idaho’s 99.3. Southern Idaho did it with superior shooting from distance, making 9 of 19 three-point attempts compared to North Idaho’s 9 of 29, and from the free-throw line, where they converted 21 of 31 attempts. The Cardinal shot 13 of 20 on free throws.

Jalen Lyn led all scorers with 23 points for Southern Idaho, adding six rebounds and four assists. Nathan Ahner contributed 16 points and nine rebounds, while Ace Reiser had 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

For North Idaho, Ajayi Simmons posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Cody Wright provided a spark off the bench with nine points and eight rebounds in just 16 minutes, and Justus Haseley dished out eight assists.

The Eagles have now won four consecutive games against the Cardinal this season. Southern Idaho entered the game as a heavy favorite, with statistical models giving them an 89.4 percent probability to win.