Bobcats Rally To Drop Eagles, Again
1/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Same opponent, same result.
Montana State overcame a double-digit deficit against Eastern Washington for the second time in five days to grab a 64-57 win over the Eagles in Cheney. Carlos Taylor and Branden Johnson each scored 13 points to lead the Bobcats.
"We'll take it," Bobcat coach Brad Huse said after his team's win. "This isn't an easy place to win. Congratulations to our guys for grinding through it."
Eastern Washington forced 19 Bobcat turnovers, but MSU countered by shooting 52% from the field in the first half to stay in the game, and 45% in the game. MSU out-rebounded the Eagles 43-to-28, converting the team's 14 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points.
"We needed to get back on the glass," Huse said. "That was a point of emphasis that we talked about before the game, not letting them get second shots and getting our own second shots. Branden got that big one, and we had two or three others."
Johnson's big put-back with 23 seconds to play may have been the biggest shot of the game, and capped a second straight outstanding game against his home-state team. The sophomore from Yakima hit a short jumper after Carlos Taylor's missed jumper to cap his 13-point, five-rebound night. That came moments after Johnson's 10-footer with just over a minute left that gave MSU a 60-56 lead.
As was the case in Bozeman on Saturday night, Eastern jumped out to a big early lead. The Eagles led 21-9 after a dunk by Gary Gibson with 9:36 to play in the first half, and led by 11 after Trey Gross' trey just less than four minutes later. MSU trimmed that lead to 33-27 at the intermission.
Eastern took its largest second half lead with a Trey Gross free throw at 17:34. MSU chipped away until taking a 48-47 lead on a Taylor triple with 9:09 to play. Branden Johnson hit a three-pointer with 6:43 to play, giving the Bobcats a 54-52 lead, and MSU would not trail again.
With the Bobcats clinging to a slim 56-54 lead, Phil Friesen fed Adrian Zamora for a short jumper to push the lead to four. After a pair of Brandon Moore free throws trimmed the lead back to a pair, Branden Johnson hit a short jumper for the Bobcats to stretch the lead to 60-56. After EWU made one of two free throws, Johnson's essentially sealed MSU's win.
The win raises MSU's record to 13-8 overall and 5-3 in the Big Sky Conference, while Eastern drops to 8-15 and 3-6.
Montana State overcame a double-digit deficit against Eastern Washington for the second time in five days to grab a 64-57 win over the Eagles in Cheney. Carlos Taylor and Branden Johnson each scored 13 points to lead the Bobcats.
"We'll take it," Bobcat coach Brad Huse said after his team's win. "This isn't an easy place to win. Congratulations to our guys for grinding through it."
Eastern Washington forced 19 Bobcat turnovers, but MSU countered by shooting 52% from the field in the first half to stay in the game, and 45% in the game. MSU out-rebounded the Eagles 43-to-28, converting the team's 14 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points.
"We needed to get back on the glass," Huse said. "That was a point of emphasis that we talked about before the game, not letting them get second shots and getting our own second shots. Branden got that big one, and we had two or three others."
Johnson's big put-back with 23 seconds to play may have been the biggest shot of the game, and capped a second straight outstanding game against his home-state team. The sophomore from Yakima hit a short jumper after Carlos Taylor's missed jumper to cap his 13-point, five-rebound night. That came moments after Johnson's 10-footer with just over a minute left that gave MSU a 60-56 lead.
As was the case in Bozeman on Saturday night, Eastern jumped out to a big early lead. The Eagles led 21-9 after a dunk by Gary Gibson with 9:36 to play in the first half, and led by 11 after Trey Gross' trey just less than four minutes later. MSU trimmed that lead to 33-27 at the intermission.
Eastern took its largest second half lead with a Trey Gross free throw at 17:34. MSU chipped away until taking a 48-47 lead on a Taylor triple with 9:09 to play. Branden Johnson hit a three-pointer with 6:43 to play, giving the Bobcats a 54-52 lead, and MSU would not trail again.
With the Bobcats clinging to a slim 56-54 lead, Phil Friesen fed Adrian Zamora for a short jumper to push the lead to four. After a pair of Brandon Moore free throws trimmed the lead back to a pair, Branden Johnson hit a short jumper for the Bobcats to stretch the lead to 60-56. After EWU made one of two free throws, Johnson's essentially sealed MSU's win.
The win raises MSU's record to 13-8 overall and 5-3 in the Big Sky Conference, while Eastern drops to 8-15 and 3-6.
Wednesday, August 19
Wednesday, June 10
Monday, March 23
Friday, March 13
