Taylor, Mbunga Lead Cats Past NAU
2/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
It was like old times.
Carlos Taylor scored 29 points and Divaldo Mbunga 20, as Montana State's two most consistent offensive threats for much of the season led the Bobcats to a 70-67 win over Northern Arizona in Worthington Arena on Thursday. The Bobcats led by as many as 10 in the second half, and played from behind for only two minutes in that stanza, but the Bobcats didn't seal the win until Nate Geiser's three-pointer at the buzzer caromed off the rim.
"Those are our big two," Bobcat coach Brad Huse said of Taylor and Mbunga, the Bobcats' two leading scorers on the season. "They really pulled us to the win tonight."
Taylor scored 14 points in a first half that saw the Bobcats head into the locker room with a slim two-point lead. After Kyle Landry tied the score 11 seconds into the half, Taylor hit a three-pointer that started a 10-0 run. Mbunga scored four points in that run.
After the teams traded free throws, NAU launched a 13-2 run that gave the Lumberjacks a short-lived lead. The teams traded leads until the 3:30 mark, when Mbunga's short jumper, followed by Taylor's layup, gave the Bobcats a 66-63 lead with a minute-and-a-half lead. After Landry drained a pair of free throws, Taylor blew past the NAU defense late in the shot clock for a layup to give MSU a 68-65 lead with 36 seconds to play.
After Geiser missed a free throw, Taylor's soaring rebound drew an NAU foul, and the Bobcat senior guard made both his free throws to pad MSU's lead to five. Zach Filzen's layup drew NAU to within three at
16 seconds, but when Casey Durham missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation, the Jacks had life.
NAU missed a free throw, but retained possession when the ball was tipped out of bounds by MSU with 0.6 seconds remaining. But Geiser's three-pointer was no good, and MSU had the win.
"Carlos really did a nice job letting the game come to him, and when he got his opportunity in the second half he did a good job getting us the lead," Huse said. "I thought Divaldo was determined tonight to get to the rim, and we were fortunate that Landry was in foul trouble for much of the second half."
Montana State raised its record to 14-10 overall, 6-5 in Big Sky play, with the win on Thursday. Northern Arizona falls to 15-10 overall,
7-5 in conference games.
Carlos Taylor scored 29 points and Divaldo Mbunga 20, as Montana State's two most consistent offensive threats for much of the season led the Bobcats to a 70-67 win over Northern Arizona in Worthington Arena on Thursday. The Bobcats led by as many as 10 in the second half, and played from behind for only two minutes in that stanza, but the Bobcats didn't seal the win until Nate Geiser's three-pointer at the buzzer caromed off the rim.
"Those are our big two," Bobcat coach Brad Huse said of Taylor and Mbunga, the Bobcats' two leading scorers on the season. "They really pulled us to the win tonight."
Taylor scored 14 points in a first half that saw the Bobcats head into the locker room with a slim two-point lead. After Kyle Landry tied the score 11 seconds into the half, Taylor hit a three-pointer that started a 10-0 run. Mbunga scored four points in that run.
After the teams traded free throws, NAU launched a 13-2 run that gave the Lumberjacks a short-lived lead. The teams traded leads until the 3:30 mark, when Mbunga's short jumper, followed by Taylor's layup, gave the Bobcats a 66-63 lead with a minute-and-a-half lead. After Landry drained a pair of free throws, Taylor blew past the NAU defense late in the shot clock for a layup to give MSU a 68-65 lead with 36 seconds to play.
After Geiser missed a free throw, Taylor's soaring rebound drew an NAU foul, and the Bobcat senior guard made both his free throws to pad MSU's lead to five. Zach Filzen's layup drew NAU to within three at
16 seconds, but when Casey Durham missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation, the Jacks had life.
NAU missed a free throw, but retained possession when the ball was tipped out of bounds by MSU with 0.6 seconds remaining. But Geiser's three-pointer was no good, and MSU had the win.
"Carlos really did a nice job letting the game come to him, and when he got his opportunity in the second half he did a good job getting us the lead," Huse said. "I thought Divaldo was determined tonight to get to the rim, and we were fortunate that Landry was in foul trouble for much of the second half."
Montana State raised its record to 14-10 overall, 6-5 in Big Sky play, with the win on Thursday. Northern Arizona falls to 15-10 overall,
7-5 in conference games.
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