IDAHO FALLS – Boise State University’s campus is more than 250 miles from Idaho Falls, but a huge crowd clad in blue and orange turned the Mountain America Center into ExtraMile Arena-East on Saturday night as the Broncos hosted St. Mary’s were.

It took five minutes of overtime for Boise State (7-3) to beat the Gaels (9-2) 67-65 in front of 3,400 raucous fans.

“That was a great win. We’ve been struggling lately,” said freshman guard Julian Bowie, a Pocatello native and Pocatello High School graduate.

Bowie was named the Idaho 4A Player of the Year in 2023 and 2024 and led the Thunder to a runner-up finish in the state tournament as a junior and a championship as a senior.

He scored two points and grabbed a rebound during a brief stint in the first half, but saw limited playing time after the halftime break. After the game, Bowie told EastIdahoNews.com that he was looking forward to getting back on the field at home.

“It’s really great to come back,” he said. “I love East Idaho, they’ve shown me love my whole life and it’s great to come back and show them love.”

He said the crowd, which chanted “Boise State” at almost every break in the game and stood screaming during big defensive tackles down the stretch, was great and gave “energy” to the team, especially on defense.

“It was loud at the end of the game, they got us some stops,” he said.

The Broncos, who had led most of the evening, fell behind in Mikey Lewis’ Turn 3 with 23 seconds left in regulation. After two free throws from Tyson Degenhart tied the game at 59-59 with 11 seconds left, the Bronco defense pulled off a big stop.

Augustas Marciulionis, who finished the game with a team-high 17 points, got the chance and made a layup to win the game, but was denied by a block from O’Mar Stanley, forcing overtime.

Degenhart led all players with 19 points, while Stanley added 13 points with 11 rebounds, three blocks and three steals to go.

After falling behind early in overtime, Boise State continued to rely on defense to gain an advantage. With the crowd’s energy, the Broncos ended regulation time with a 6-2 run to claim a two-point win.

The Broncos, who had lost two of their last three games before Saturday, celebrated with their fans as the final siren sounded after their victory over a St. Mary’s team that had qualified for eight NCAA Tournaments since 2010.

Bowie spoke about his team’s mentality in the face of late adversity from a team with tournament experience, saying they “always keep going.”

“We carry on. No matter what happens, we fight through the adversity and keep going,” he said, adding that “a great win like this” can “definitely” lead the Broncos to a possible conference run and a fourth straight tournament bid.