Bobcats Overcome 19-pointer to Top Eagles
1/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Montana State overcame a 19-point second half deficit to earn a 74-69 win over Eastern Washington in Bozeman on Saturday.
Carlos Taylor scored 20 points to lead the Bobcats, but MSU head coach said the comeback effort extended far beyond one player. "Coach (Danny) Sprinkle said it best," Huse said. "He told them that everyone on the team made a game-changing play in the second half. That's a real credit to them."
While the last eighteen-and-a-half minutes played out like a dream for the Bobcats, the first twenty-one-and-a-half was nightmarish. "I don't know if we were a step slow or what (in the first half)," Huse said, "but they just executed so well. It was frustrating, we couldn't mount any sort of challenge. They really outplayed us in the first half."
Leading 44-27 after shooting 55% from the field with eight three-pointers in the first half, EWU opened the second half with a backdoor layup by Adris DeLeon, who led all players with 22 points. Montana State started down the comeback trail three minutes later when Phil Friesen hit back-to-back three pointers to draw the Bobcats within a dozen, then Carlos Taylor followed with a triple to cut the lead to single digits.
While Huse was pleased with his team's offensive effort after the intermission, he said defense turned the game around. "In the second half we played desperate," he said. "We played with a lot of urgency. Sometimes it's hard to play with that big a lead because the team that's playing desperate has nothing to lose."
With the Bobcats leading by one and just over five minutes left, Jack Loofburrow, a former high school teammate of MSU's Branden Johnson at Yakima Eisenhower High, drained a three-pointer to give the Eagles a short-lived lead. Divaldo Mbunga's two free throws on the ensuing possession tied the game, and Friesen made a pair of charity tosses a minute later to give MSU a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
Trey Gross finished Eastern Washington's scoring with a three-pointer at 1:27 and a pair of free throws with 39 seconds left. MSU converted five of its six free throws in the last 30 seconds to seal the win.
Montana State shot 40% on the night, but after Eastern's blistering first half MSU held the Eagles to 32% in the second half. MSU forced 20 Eagles turnovers, nine by DeLeon, and turned those into 11 points.
The Bobcats raised their record to 12-8 overall with the win, 4-3 in Big Sky play, while the Eagles fall to 8-14 overall, 3-5 in the league. The Bobcats and Eagles square off again on Thursday night in Cheney, with an 8:05 pm MT tipoff.
• Eastern Washington held two 19-point leads in the second half, the latest 49-30 at 18:29
• Montana State turned the ball over only nine times, its second-lowest total of the season
• Adris DeLeon scored 22 points for EWU, his fourth straight of at least 18
• Carlos Taylor's 20 points marked his first effort of 20 or more in the last three games
• Casey Durham logged three steals, raising his career total to 132, tied for fifth in school history with Jeff Epperly
• Casey Durham's lone three-pointer gives him 176 in his career, tied for third in school history with Scott Hatler
Carlos Taylor scored 20 points to lead the Bobcats, but MSU head coach said the comeback effort extended far beyond one player. "Coach (Danny) Sprinkle said it best," Huse said. "He told them that everyone on the team made a game-changing play in the second half. That's a real credit to them."
While the last eighteen-and-a-half minutes played out like a dream for the Bobcats, the first twenty-one-and-a-half was nightmarish. "I don't know if we were a step slow or what (in the first half)," Huse said, "but they just executed so well. It was frustrating, we couldn't mount any sort of challenge. They really outplayed us in the first half."
Leading 44-27 after shooting 55% from the field with eight three-pointers in the first half, EWU opened the second half with a backdoor layup by Adris DeLeon, who led all players with 22 points. Montana State started down the comeback trail three minutes later when Phil Friesen hit back-to-back three pointers to draw the Bobcats within a dozen, then Carlos Taylor followed with a triple to cut the lead to single digits.
While Huse was pleased with his team's offensive effort after the intermission, he said defense turned the game around. "In the second half we played desperate," he said. "We played with a lot of urgency. Sometimes it's hard to play with that big a lead because the team that's playing desperate has nothing to lose."
With the Bobcats leading by one and just over five minutes left, Jack Loofburrow, a former high school teammate of MSU's Branden Johnson at Yakima Eisenhower High, drained a three-pointer to give the Eagles a short-lived lead. Divaldo Mbunga's two free throws on the ensuing possession tied the game, and Friesen made a pair of charity tosses a minute later to give MSU a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
Trey Gross finished Eastern Washington's scoring with a three-pointer at 1:27 and a pair of free throws with 39 seconds left. MSU converted five of its six free throws in the last 30 seconds to seal the win.
Montana State shot 40% on the night, but after Eastern's blistering first half MSU held the Eagles to 32% in the second half. MSU forced 20 Eagles turnovers, nine by DeLeon, and turned those into 11 points.
The Bobcats raised their record to 12-8 overall with the win, 4-3 in Big Sky play, while the Eagles fall to 8-14 overall, 3-5 in the league. The Bobcats and Eagles square off again on Thursday night in Cheney, with an 8:05 pm MT tipoff.
• Eastern Washington held two 19-point leads in the second half, the latest 49-30 at 18:29
• Montana State turned the ball over only nine times, its second-lowest total of the season
• Adris DeLeon scored 22 points for EWU, his fourth straight of at least 18
• Carlos Taylor's 20 points marked his first effort of 20 or more in the last three games
• Casey Durham logged three steals, raising his career total to 132, tied for fifth in school history with Jeff Epperly
• Casey Durham's lone three-pointer gives him 176 in his career, tied for third in school history with Scott Hatler
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